Last month, a WIAReport post announced that Mills College, the liberal arts educational institution for women in Oakland, California, had issued a “Blueprint for Restructuring” to reverse a persistent and growing deficit. The board of trustees of the women’s college declared a financial emergency.
At the time, the blueprint talked only in general terms but mentioned that the restructuring plan would require a reduction in force of staff and faculty. Now some details are beginning to emerge. The college reports that it will eliminate eight tenured faculty positions and eliminate some academic departments, including philosophy.
Marc Joseph, a professor of philosophy who has been on the college’s faculty for 18 years, asked a reported for the San Jose Mercury News, “how does one have a liberal arts program without philosophy?”
Published reports indicated that other faculty cuts will come in English, music, government, ethnic studies, physics and history.