Dear Western benefactors, alumni and friends,
In your open letter advertisement (“An open letter from Western benefactors, alumni and friends,” Western News, April 16), you write that you “have had the pleasure of seeing first-hand as President Chakma’s vision and ideas have taken hold.” Congratulations.
However, those of us who work directly on the campus in research and teaching have also seen his ideas “take hold.” I can tell you it hasn’t been a pleasure.
We’ve seen, at best, negligence and secrecy and, at worst, program cuts, chronic underfunding and the constant threat of more of the same for years to come. This is the real first-hand experience of the faculty, staff and students who, against the odds, continue to make Western one of the world’s best universities.
Steven Bruhm
Robert and Ruth Lumsden Professor of English