Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

Today I've been quite the activist. I've e-mailed all of the local news channels as well as The Tennessean and The Daily News Journal. I also decided to e-mail Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education. Here is that e-mail:

Secretary Duncan,

I am writing you to inform you of what I consider to be a wreckless disregard for education in the state of Tennessee, specifically Middle Tennessee State University. MTSU has the largest undergraduate population of any Tennessee higher learning institution, with enrollment numbers of more than 23,000 undergraduate students.

In the wake of these tough economic times, the university's president, Sidney McPhee, put together an Oversight Steering Committee to determine how the university could reduce spending. The final report, which can be viewed at http://www.mtsu.edu/strategic/docs/final/Oversight_Final_Report.pdf, proposes the elimination of majors and departments that are key to a foundation for education. Especially disturbing is the composition of the committee, which contains no representation from the philosophy department (proposed to be eliminated) and only one representative in basic and applied sciences, a professor of engineering and technology. The committee recommends eliminating majors in applied and professional mathematics. As it stands, MTSU is the only university in the state which offers a program in Actuarial Science (applied math) that is recognized by the Society of Actuaries.

President Obama has repeatedly stressed the importance of education, including higher learning. I am fully committed to this belief. However, the proposed actions at MTSU would greatly discredit the university and essentially make a mockery of the institution of higher learning. When the solution of administrators is less education, there is great cause for concern. When a university spends millions on a business building and yet houses mathematics and computer science in a building present since the school opened in 1911, there is great cause for concern.

I am asking for your help or advice in this matter. We cannot allow publicly funded universities to eliminate areas of study that are fundamental building blocks of education at every other institution. I have started a blog, http://savemtsuphilosophy.blogspot.com, where contact information for various administrators can be found. I do hope you take an interest in this matter, as students' concerns appear to have fallen on deaf ears.

Thank you for your time and your hard work, and please feel free to contact me any time.

Respectfully,
~Wendy K. Calwell