Below is a copy of a letter to the editor I will submit tomorrow...
This past Wednesday would have been the start of a new fall semester at Sheldon Jackson College. Instead, with the exception of a shoestring staff, the campus shows little signs of life. It was also exactly two months ago that staff and faculty were terminated without notice. To date, they have not received the severance and vacation pay promised to them. Students would not be notified of the decision for weeks, and many still do not know where, or if, they will be attending college this fall. To put it bluntly, the quick decision to suspend operations and nearly every related subsequent action on the part of the College has been mishandled. The results are tragic, and I feel a profound sense of loss as college students return to campuses across the country – everywhere but here.
This upcoming Wednesday, the Board of Trustees will meet on campus. I encourage everyone with a vested interest in the fate of Sheldon Jackson College – in essence, all of us – to attend.
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5 comments:
Great letter Chris. I am afraid it will not be published, the paper has been oddly silent about any negative sides of this issue. I now have lost count of the number of locals who have told me various versions of the "look on the bright side, you get a year-long vacation and will be back to work before you know it". As if this was indeed a 'suspension of academic activities' and not not a closing! I think this positive spin has been harder on me than anything else. SJC faculty, staff, and students just went through a major tragedy. There IS NO POSITIVE side of this. We are not reopening in 2008. They are pretending they are for absolute personal reasons that undoubtedly involve some personal gain (or reduction of losses). It is time the prez and board start owning up to what they actually did and are doing.
I agree whole heartedly. SJC, as sad as it might be, is not going to re-open. That is the hard, sad fact of it. It would be best for everyone, if the board and pres would just be honest, as if they know how!
SJC was my family. As dysfunctional as it might have been, it was my family. And the loss is just profound. The anger is unreal.
I just wish there was something to do.
It's time for a new newspaper in this town. Of course, it was completely predictable they would not publish your letter. They have done nothing but tout Dobbler's spins and cover ups, never showing any interest in genuine journalism. How very sad!
why not send this letter to the anchorage daily news. some of us up here do care what's been happening down there.
It is very sad what is going on there. They just recently laid off maintenance but no one hire up. It is obviouse somthing is a miss. There are people the school trefuses to give transcripts for because of out standing debt who had things lining up but now are out of the school after it took years for them to gain up to that point. The hatchery is trying to hang on in desperation but alas the posting about money alloted to them with a grant has been suspended and the only way it can be gained back is by the support of the cummunity. But alas this closing and manipulative manerism of the heads has created scarred and mamemed members of a once was family. I will still support the Hatchery but low to those above who cause such disseray and refuse to speak of true intentions. It was you who took the pie and created the crumbs. For years money has gone in and disapeared. I fear if the school was to gain the grant they may use it another way and lose all hope of anything. I have been with SJC through many challenges but I fear this has always been coming. If you do not trust the school and still feel pain. I do to. But I plead with all who read this Support the Hatchery and Dan. I know many have but remember a lone reed needs more to stand against a storm. Support the hatchery, it legacy, those how keep it alive, and the lives it cares for. Thanks.
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