To the Editor:
To read your article about Syracuse University (“Syracuse’s Slide,” The Chronicle, October 2), one would think there were neither women faculty members worth talking to, nor faculty members from underrepresented groups, nor faculty with disabilities, and that one five-foot woman with a big laugh had run roughshod over the entire professoriate.
You tell a story of Syracuse University’s “slide.” How could The Chronicle think that this was the story? You quote a narrow range of faculty members, you do not report the strong vote in the University Senate to support diversity at the university, and you engage in a surface reading of what’s happening on the campus. In other words, you did very little investigation. We wish you had written an insightful analytical piece addressing the complications that institutions face in their struggle to remain vibrant and competitive in these difficult financial times.
Instead, you told a story of how a group of faculty members has resisted the chancellor’s efforts. The real story is that a small group of faculty members have opposed work to make Syracuse University important in the field of higher education and in the world. We are deeply disappointed in the poor level of journalism represented by this piece.
When the article quotes faculty members as saying that the university must choose between being selective or inclusive, as if those goals were opposed to each other, it suggests that including low-income students and students with disabilities, or wanting our students to be more racially and ethnically diverse, counters selectivity or quality. Not only are selectivity and inclusivity not opposed to each other, but framing the changing national demographics this way represents people in these groups as “other,” and shows no concern with how those people who are being “included” would hear how they are represented.
The country is changing, the world is changing, and universities elsewhere are working to address the question of how to build a vibrant student body while supporting faculty members to do their compelling work and engaging their communities. The fact that Syracuse University has a commitment to offer greater support for lower-income students than other comparable universities do is one of the reasons we have been able to attract a distinguished and competitive faculty.
We wish you had told the story of Syracuse University’s rise to an engaged, dynamic, competitive campus that has a visionary leader and is setting the stage for the future of higher education.
Christy Ashby
Assistant Professor of Teaching and Leadership
Barbara Applebaum
Associate Professor of Education
Leslie Bender
Professor of Law
Dessa Bergen-Cico
Assistant Professor of Public Health, Food Studies, and Nutrition
Shobha Bhatia
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Sari Knopp Biklen
Professor of Education
Susan Borker
Associate Professor Emerita of Sociology
Richard Breyer
Professor of Documentary Film and History
Rachel Brown
Associate Professor of Reading and Language Arts
Michael Burkard
Associate Professor of English
Linda Carty
Associate Professor of African American Studies and Sociology
Kelly Chandler-Olcott
Professor of Reading and Language Arts
Derrick L. Cogburn
Associate Professor of Information Studies
Jan Cohen-Cruz
Professor of Visual and Performing Arts
Jackie Cuevas
Assistant Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies
Anne T. Demo
Assistant Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies
Marjorie DeVault
Professor of Teaching Excellence and Sociology
Richard Dubin
Professor of Communications Practice
Timothy Eatman
Assistant Professor of Higher Education
Larry Elin
Associate Professor of Television-Radio-Film
Cathy Engstrom
Associate Professor of Higher Education
Carol Fadda-Conrey
Assistant Professor of English
Beth Ferri
Associate Professor of Teaching and Leadership
Arthur R. Flowers
Alan Foley
Associate Professor of Instructional Design, Development, and Evaluation
Renee E. Franklin
Assistant Professor of Information Studies
Alejandro Garcia
Professor of Social Work
Rachel Ann Gazdick
Instructor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies
Mark Glauser
Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Tula Goenka
Associate Professor of Communications
Cecilia Green
Associate Professor of Sociology
Marcelle Haddix
Assistant Professor of Reading and Language Arts
Roger Hallas
Kathy Hinchman
Can Isik
Professor of Engineering and Computer Science
Dawn Johnson
Paula Johnson
Arlene Kanter
Thomas M. Keck
Professor of Political Science
William Kelleher
Associate Professor of Anthropology
Deborah Kenn
Kathleen King
Research Assistant Professor of Exercise Science
Eric Kingson
Professor of Social Work and Public Administration
Stephen Kuusisto
Professor of Disability Studies
Barbara Kwasnik
Professor of Information Studies
Sandra D. Lane
Professor of Public Health and Anthropology
R. David Lankes
Immaculada Lara-Bonnilla
Assistant Professor of Spanish
Gina Lee-Glauser
Jing Lei
Associate Professor of Instructional Design Development and Evaluation
Vincent Lloyd
Assistant Professor of Continental Philosophy of Religion
Richard Loder
Professor of Sociology
Andrew London
Brian Lonsway
Associate Professor of Architecture
Gretchen Lopez
Assistant Professor of Education
Julia Loughlin
Professor Emerita of Sociology
Amy Lutz
Yingyi Ma
Assistant Professor of Sociology
Stephen Mahan
Artist in Residence
Jeff Mangram
Vivian May
Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies
Janis McDonald
Katherine E. McDonald
Assistant Professor of Sport and Human Dynamics
Suzette Menendez
Lecturer, College of Law
Don Mitchell
Professor of Geography
Chandra Talpade Mohanty
Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies
Mark Monmonier
Micere Mugo
Professor of African American Studies
Diane Murphy
Associate Professor of Social Work
Jackie Orr
Arthur Paris
Mario Rios Perez
Kendall Phillips
Professor of Design
Gwendolyn Pough
Associate Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, Writing, and Rhetoric
Gretchen Purser
Romita Ray
Assistant Professor of Art History
Kira Kristal Reed
Assistant Professor of Management
LaVonda Reed-Huff
Robin Riley
Emily Robertson
Associate Professor of Education and Philosophy
Dalia Rodriguez
Zaline M. Roy-Campbell
Coordinator, Program in Teaching English Language Learners
Robert A. Rubinstein
Professor of Anthropology and International Relations
Stephen Sawyer
Michael Schoonmaker
Michael Schwartz
Associate Professor of Law
Richard Shin
Associate Professor of Counseling and Human Services
Ruth Small
Carrie J. Smith
Jeffrey Stanton
Kimi Takesue
Assistant Professor of Transmedia Studies
Steven J. Taylor
Harvey Teres
Professor of English
George Theoharis
Robert Thompson
Professor of Television and Popular Culture
Silvio Torres-Saillant
Peter Vanable
Associate Professor of Psychology
Bradford Vivian
Associate Professor of Communication and Rhetorical Studies
Qiu Wang
Evan Weissman
Assistant Professor of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition
Janet Wilmoth
Marion Wilson
Associate Professor of Art
Robert Wilson
Assistant Professor of Geography
John Wolohan
Professor of Sport Management
Syracuse University
Syracuse, N.Y.