Thank You

Dear Readers of ‘Dear Stanford’:

I hope this finds you all well, enjoying the holidays with family and friends. I wanted to send one last message in 2024 to thank you for supporting the lecturers and students of the Stanford Creative Writing program. Though we haven’t been successful in convincing the administration that the decision to fire 23 beloved teachers should be overturned, and though the Creative Writing faculty has refused to meet with concerned undergrads (whose tuition pays faculty salaries), we are proud of the work we’ve done this fall. On August 21st, the lecturers were fired in a one-hour Zoom meeting, based on a secret vote of only five of the 32 English faculty (four tenured male faculty voted to fire us, while one female faculty member voted against the firings, then subsequently resigned from Stanford). Now, the whole academic and literary community is aware of what happened here. We have brought lots of light into this darkness. Thank you for turning your heads towards us when we cried out about this injustice. On behalf of the students and the lecturers who have been fighting the firings, thank you very much. And to all of you students, I’ll say it yet again - we are so grateful to you for supporting us, your teachers.

There is currently an HR appeal in process, which should be concluded soon. We are hopeful that the preponderance of evidence will be in our favor. But the issue is out of our hands now. I will let you know of any developments as they arise. You may also find additional resources and updates at www.savestanfordcreativewriting.com

A silver lining on the gray cloud of this ordeal is the money we’ve raised - via pledges made to this Substack - to support educators and students in underserved communities. Shortly after the firings I recognized the opportunity to turn the faculty’s cruelty to good by raising money for a local nonprofit. We are in touch with an amazing program, California Poets in the Schools, and intend to donate the $850 we have currently raised to a school in East Palo Alto. You can still make a pledge via this Substack, and will be able to do so for perpetuity.

As for myself, I will be stepping back from this movement to focus on finishing the teaching I have been allowed (this year and next). I plan to use my severance year to write about the issues these firings raise in various genres. I invite you to subscribe to my Substack - austinsmith.substack.com - if you wish to read this work as I produce it.

May the new year bring care and compassion in our university, in our country, in our hearts.

Austin Smith