Save UVM Classics – An Open Letter
President Suresh Garimella, Suresh.Garimella@uvm.edu president@uvm.edu
Provost Patricia Prelock, Patricia.Prelock@uvm.edu provost.office@uvm.edu
Members of the University of Vermont Board of Trustees, trustees@uvm.edu
Dear President Garimella, Dr. Prelock, and Members of the UVM Board of Trustees,
On behalf of the Classical Association of New England, a disciplinary organization with more than 300 members who teach Classics throughout the region, we, the Officers and State Representatives of CANE, condemn the shortsighted decision by the University of Vermont’s Dean of College of Arts and Sciences, Professor William Falls, to eliminate Classics from the UVM campus’s roster of excellent academic departments.
The governing entities of UVM should recognize the many benefits your students gain in studies associated with the languages, literatures, philosophies, religions, cultures, and artifacts of the peoples of the ancient Mediterranean region. Students taking courses in Classics gain crucial perspective on the past actions, ideas, and products of people and civilizations which have had impact and influence, for better or worse, on the present day. Students in Classics courses also gain the opportunity to reconsider and critically analyze these aspects, and engage with the present in a way that is then informed by the past. Indeed, the impact of the UVM Classics Department extends beyond your campus to the wider community, as evident in the 43 consecutive, annual Vermont Classics Days, attended in 2015 by your state’s governor.
Classics is a discipline that has had value for centuries. Indeed, Classics was integral to the university-level course of studies when the university system first emerged in the United States. We hope that you, the governing entities of the University of Vermont, will preserve your valuable Classics department, and keep the educational mission of UVM closely tied to academic traditions that distinguish the best public universities in the nation.
Sincerely,
The Officers and State Representatives of the Classical Association of New England
CANE Officers:
President: Dr. Teresa Ramsby (UMass Amherst, MA)
Executive Secretary: Kevin Ballestrini (Mansfield Middle School, CT)
Treasurer: Ruth Breindel (Moses Brown School, emerita, RI)
Immediate Past President: Dr. John Higgins (Trinity College, CT)
President-Elect: Dr. Lindsay Sears (Greenwich Academy, CT)
Media Coordinator: Benjamin Revkin (East Greenwich High School, RI)
CANE State Representatives:
Connecticut: Dr. Mark Pearsall (Glastonbury High School)
Maine: Heidi Paulding (Fryeburg Academy)
Massachusetts: Emma Vanderpool (Springfield Honors Academy)
New Hampshire: Dr. Paul Langford (Phillips Exeter Academy)
Rhode Island: Dr. Daniel Carpenter (University of Rhode Island)
Vermont: Sarah Allen (Woodstock Union High School)