Please sign the letter below asking the University of Illinois at Chicago
to recall the decision to suspend the majors in Ancient Greek and Latin
and suspend the teaching of Ancient Greek. Please, in addition to your
name give your email address. This information
will be used only in this request.
Dwight A. McBride, Dean
University of Illinois at Chicago
601 South Morgan Street (MC 228)
Chicago, Illinois 60607
Dear Dean McBride:
We are very troubled by the recently announced decision of your office to suspend the majors in Ancient Greek and Latin and suspend the teaching of Ancient Greek. Ancient Greek and Latin are the foundations of the education in the Humanities and of our civilization. There is no major university in America where Greek and Latin are not taught.
It was announced that this decision is being motivated by budgetary concerns, although since 1981 upper-level Ancient Greek and Latin courses have been taught as free overloads by the faculty in the Department of Classics, and hence, little money is to be saved if this decision is implemented.
Of the current pool of majors in Classics at UIC, 30% are majoring in Ancient Greek. They are top students with aspirations to attend graduate programs and professional schools, and the department has never had a more talented and diverse pool of majors. The latest review committee for the Department of Classics expressed the outmost praise for ancient Greek and Latin at UIC, and recommended to build upon the excellence of the current faculty and course offerings by giving the department a replacement for the one and a half positions in Ancient Greek that the Department has lost through attrition.
UIC is the University with the largest Greek-American student population. The Greek-American Community of Chicago has donated to UIC more than one million dollars for the establishment of a Chair in Modern Greek in the Department of Classics, and continues to support scholarships, symposia and conferences at the University. We are very disappointed by the response of the University to the support of our Community, and we are very concerned about the future of the Modern Greek Studies program at UIC. Modern Greek language and culture are the continuation of ancient Greek and the suspension of Classical Greek at UIC would cut off the endowed Chair in Modern Greek from its roots.
We very strongly urge you to recall this decision, which would inevitably lead to the dismantling of Classics at the largest public University in the Metropolitan Chicago area, would gravely jeopardize the future of the Modern Greek Studies Program at the University, and would critically diminish the quality of education provided to our children and the generations to come.
CC:
R. Michael Tanner, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Paula Allen-Meares, Chancellor
Mrinalini Chatta Rao, Vice President for Academic Affairs
B Joseph White, UIC President
Sincerely,
University of Illinois at Chicago
601 South Morgan Street (MC 228)
Chicago, Illinois 60607
Dear Dean McBride:
We are very troubled by the recently announced decision of your office to suspend the majors in Ancient Greek and Latin and suspend the teaching of Ancient Greek. Ancient Greek and Latin are the foundations of the education in the Humanities and of our civilization. There is no major university in America where Greek and Latin are not taught.
It was announced that this decision is being motivated by budgetary concerns, although since 1981 upper-level Ancient Greek and Latin courses have been taught as free overloads by the faculty in the Department of Classics, and hence, little money is to be saved if this decision is implemented.
Of the current pool of majors in Classics at UIC, 30% are majoring in Ancient Greek. They are top students with aspirations to attend graduate programs and professional schools, and the department has never had a more talented and diverse pool of majors. The latest review committee for the Department of Classics expressed the outmost praise for ancient Greek and Latin at UIC, and recommended to build upon the excellence of the current faculty and course offerings by giving the department a replacement for the one and a half positions in Ancient Greek that the Department has lost through attrition.
UIC is the University with the largest Greek-American student population. The Greek-American Community of Chicago has donated to UIC more than one million dollars for the establishment of a Chair in Modern Greek in the Department of Classics, and continues to support scholarships, symposia and conferences at the University. We are very disappointed by the response of the University to the support of our Community, and we are very concerned about the future of the Modern Greek Studies program at UIC. Modern Greek language and culture are the continuation of ancient Greek and the suspension of Classical Greek at UIC would cut off the endowed Chair in Modern Greek from its roots.
We very strongly urge you to recall this decision, which would inevitably lead to the dismantling of Classics at the largest public University in the Metropolitan Chicago area, would gravely jeopardize the future of the Modern Greek Studies Program at the University, and would critically diminish the quality of education provided to our children and the generations to come.
CC:
R. Michael Tanner, Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Paula Allen-Meares, Chancellor
Mrinalini Chatta Rao, Vice President for Academic Affairs
B Joseph White, UIC President
Sincerely,
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