Speech professor Jim Kuypers, long the only faculty member in the office of speech, announced his resignation effective the end of the term, citing frustration with 10 years of administrative neglect. The College has not made any plans to hire a new professor in his place, so as Kuypers leaves, the study of speech at Dartmouth may come to an end.
Kuypers made his resignation public with a dramatic letter criticizing a number of deans, particularly Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt and Associate Dean for the Humanities Lenore Grenoble, for ignoring his annual requests for more faculty members and for trivializing his study.
In his letter, Kuypers described an antagonistic meeting he had with Folt and Grenoble in the fall during which the deans allegedly told him he could either make do with the limited resources allotted to the office of speech or he could quit. Kuypers went so far as to compare Folt and Grenoble to the mythical monsters Scylla and Charybdis.
Kuypers also complained that the deans had willfully ignored a 1979 trustee directive by severely limiting the office of speech. The mandate downgraded the speech department to the office of speech, but directed the College to maintain the instruction at the departmental level.
Kuypers also wrote in his letters that Grenoble dismissed this trustee directive as "the old rules" when Kuypers cited it.
Kuypers also claimed that Grenoble had refused to read and consider his winter 2004 faculty supplement record.
Although Grenoble was unavailable to comment on the future of the office of speech, she did release a statement.
"We are taking some time to think about the course offerings, how they fit into our current curriculum and how the student's needs might best be met," she stated in the release.
Since the 1994-1995 academic year, the office of speech has offered only five courses taught by its untenured director and sole faculty member, Kuypers. This period represented a significant shrink for the office of speech, which offered twice as many courses and had three or four faculty members during the 1980s.
Meanwhile, Kuypers' classes have been routinely oversubscribed, despite the fact that they do not contribute to any major.
Grenoble has expressed her opinion in the past that the study of speech is a technical pursuit that would be appropriate at a technical school but not a liberal arts college. She has also suggested that public speaking skills, like writing skills, are taught indirectly through other departments.
Kuypers has accepted a tenure position in the department of communication at Virginia Tech.
