What is going on with the ethnic studies programs at Iowa State University?

Herman Blake is retiring, but no candidates have been brought to campus to interview for the position. The number of faculty in the American Indian Studies program went from five last year to three this year to maybe one next year. Yet, no candidates have been brought to campus to interview for the positions.

Who is going to teach the required U.S. diversity classes? What are the classes going to look like? Who’s going to teach Blake’s award-winning introductory class in African-American studies? Who’s going to teach American Indian Studies classes?

Michael Whiteford, the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, has not made clear his plans for American Indian Studies classes for the next academic year. However, in the American Indian Studies program, we have worked hard to cap our enrollments at 33 students per class.

Students report a much better learning experience in the smaller classes than in large lecture classes. Without new faculty, though, most likely the American Indian Studies program will have to have large lecture classes with graduate student teaching assistants. Will the graduate student teaching assistants come from the dean’s home department, anthropology?

What is going on with tenure cases for faculty with joint appointments in the ethnic studies programs? In the past I have publicly asserted no faculty member with a joint appointment to an ethnic studies program at Iowa State has ever received tenure (Iowa State Daily, Feb. 14). No university official has come forward to name even one.

They can’t, because there are no such persons. Apparently, ISU President Gregory Geoffroy’s professed commitment to diversity does not extend to faculty with joint appointments in the ethnic studies programs.

The administration needs to be held accountable for its actions. If you’re worried about being able to get into classes that meet the U.S. diversity requirement, make your voice heard. If you’re worried about the quality of the education you will receive in your U.S. Diversity classes, make your voice heard. If you’re wondering what’s going on with faculty who have joint appointments in the ethnic studies programs, make your voice heard.

An excellent opportunity exists for you to do so. This Tuesday, President Geoffroy and Dean Whiteford will be on the radio show “Talk of Iowa” on WOI 640 AM from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Call them up and let your voice be heard. The number for Talk of Iowa radio show is 1-800-262-0640.

Change occurs when students make their voices heard. Now is the time for you to make your voice heard.

Lawrence W. Gross

Director

American Indian Studies Program