'Dear Stanford': Letter 29
A Collection of Letters in Support of Stanford's 23 Jones Lecturers
On August 21st, 23 Creative Writing lecturers were ‘future fired’ in a meeting with Deans, Directors, and Professors that oversee the program. Writing against the firing and in support of their teachers, students’ and alums’ letters to the administration alike have received auto-replies and brief responses to their concerns. This Substack is a space for these letters. This one is by Angie Lee, ‘21.
Dear Stanford,
In early August, I was asked by a friend if I would speak with her younger brother, a high-performing, artistic high-school senior from my hometown interested in applying to Stanford. He wanted to speak with an English major, specifically someone who was involved in the creative writing department, as he’s an aspiring poet drawn to the university but wary of its alleged emphasis on STEM over the humanities. I told him I understood his concerns, but that I wouldn’t have changed my Stanford experience for the world. I told him that Stanford supports and values the humanities. I told him the English community at Stanford is tight-knit, supportive, and one of a kind. I told him what makes the creative writing department exceptional, in particular, is the unbelievably brilliant faculty, the close ties made possible with the inspiring and insightful Stegner Fellows, and perhaps most of all, the opportunities to develop deep and life-changing relationships with the spectacular Jones Lecturers, who are specially positioned to teach and build connections with undergraduates as leaders uniquely considered at once emerging and expert in their fields. Now, upon hearing of the “future firing” of the current Jones Lecturers, and of this revolving-door system that will be implemented for the lectureship moving forward, I fear this student might one day arrive on campus and accuse me of being a liar.
As an aspiring writer and a current MFA candidate in fiction myself, I am well-aware of the importance of providing opportunities for up-and-coming artists. I am even supportive of such a cause, and am able to see its potential benefits—but my disappointment and confusion and outrage is rooted in this: We’re Stanford University, one of the world’s top academic and creative institutions. Can we not make room for a new generation of leaders while honoring and supporting the very people who’ve made this new generation possible in the first place?
It is one thing to create new opportunities for emerging artists, and it is another to take away existing support that’s been relied upon by individuals for many years in order to do so. What it seems the university is saying is that it’s making space for new voices—but only to the detriment of those who’ve been the ones uplifting these new voices, directly and indirectly, through their yearslong commitment to both their craft and their teaching. To make a Silicon Valley comparison, it feels no different from a startup or company, instead of growing and scaling to meet surging needs, “cycling out” their top, longstanding, experienced employees for newer, fresher perspectives. Perhaps I’m being idealistic, but Stanford has taught me to dream big, and to do what I can to make big dreams a reality: here I’m asking that we find a way to embrace, enable, and empower the world’s creative leaders, both the well-versed and the up-and-coming.
It is my understanding that a limited number of new positions are being created for the current Jones Lecturers to apply to. But it’s unclear why one should have to apply and compete for a job they’d already once secured and have now become seasoned in. I believe that, if anything, contracts should be renewed based solely on the lecturers’ performance. And I know as fact that the current Jones Lecturers are outperforming their dues.
I’ve said this in a previous letter advocating for fair pay for the lecturers: The Jones Lecturers teach for the sake of teaching, they teach out of a genuine concern and respect for their students, and they teach with a remarkable expertise, with an approachability, and with an ultimate sense of kindness and intellectual vitality that is exemplary of Stanford faculty and the overarching university spirit.
All of this is made possible by their longstanding experience and commitment to the university and its students, their ability to build a career at Stanford rather than consider it a transitory appointment. The numbers have already shown the lecturers are teaching most of the creative writing classes, holding the department together. To name a few specific people who’ve undeniably changed my life as a writer and human being: Jenn Alandy Trahan and Tom Kealey are two current Jones Lecturers who’ve always gone above and beyond in their support of their students, including myself. Tom’s novel-writing intensive, independent study on revision, and contemporary American short stories classes were instrumental in my writing life. And Jenn overgenerously undertook an independent study with me during a time when it brought her no financial benefit whatsoever. During this particular independent study is when I’d say I drafted my first “real” story, with pivotal encouragement and instruction from Jenn that will have a lifelong effect. Both of these teachers are a huge part of the reason I’m still on the path toward becoming a writer. They have served as continued and consistent mentors for me beyond my Stanford years, providing feedback on my work, exposing me to opportunities for emerging writers and supporting my pursuit of them, and even checking in just to see how I’m doing as a fellow person navigating this often-troubling world. Such mentorship has given students like me hope and direction, and I believe these and other lecturers should be acknowledged and rewarded for their extraordinary efforts over the years rather than tossed into a sea of uncertainty.
It’s clear that there’s already a fissure in the department—as students and alumni we have, in many ways, already woken up from the dream that was Stanford Creative Writing under the leadership of Professor Eavan Boland. Author Charles Baxter in an essay on dialogue tells writers to “consider the unretractable statement” after which “nothing in the story can be the same.” The decision to “cycle out” the current Jones Lecturers in some ways feels like such a statement. And this is a fact that makes me deeply sad. But I maintain hope that this decision is scrutable, even retractable, and that there would be a way to renew my faith in the university’s commitment to the humanities and creative arts: by reinstating the current Jones Lecturers.
I sincerely hope my friend’s brother might one day arrive on campus to be greeted by all the best teachers I’ve known, by both those who’ve long stood by Stanford English and those who’ll be next in shaping and nurturing the department for years to come.
Sincerely,
Angie Lee, Class of 2021
English Department Peer Advisor 2019-2021