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Claremont Graduate University shuts its philosophy department, and two tenured faculty will be terminated!

Brian Leiter

MOVING TO FRONT FROM JUNE 7–SEE THE LATEST COMMENT BY PROFESSOR YAMADA; HE AND PROF. YOUNG HAVE BOTH BEEN FIRED

The Claremont colleges in Southern California–Pomona, Scripps, Harvey Mudd, Claremont-McKenna, and Pitzer–boast an impressive aggregated philosophy faculty, in addition to beautiful campuses and excellent undergraduates.  (The Claremont colleges are the Amherst/Haverford/Bryn Mawr/Colgate/Hamilton of the West Coast.)  I did not know that the PhD program in philosophy, part of the Claremont Graduate University, had additional faculty, but I've now learned that the Claremont Graduate University will be closing the PhD program and terminating two tenured faculty!  One, Charles Young, a specialist in ancient philosophy, may have the reasonable option to retire, but the other, Masahiro Yamada (epistemology), a tenured associate professor (with a family), will need to find a new position.  This presents a real opportunity for other departments to hire an accomplished young scholar!

If anyone has more information, comments are open.  (This is summer, and I am paying less attention to the blog, so please be patient about comment moderation.)

UPDATE:  Please see the additional information supplied by Professor Yamada in the comments, below.

ANOTHER:  Philosopher Zach Barnett (who is joining the faculty at the National University of Singapore this fall) writes:  "Masahiro Yamada was one of my thesis readers when I was a student at Pomona College, and he supported me in applying to graduate school. Actually, that's an understatement – he read countless versions of my writing sample, and when I wrote to him in a panic at the final hour, he called me up on New Year's Eve, calmed me down, and helped me put the finishing touches on my application.  I always hate to see philosophers affected by these sorts of cuts, but it is especially hard to see it happening to such a great philosopher/person."

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15 responses to “Claremont Graduate University shuts its philosophy department, and two tenured faculty will be terminated!”

  1. Masahiro Yamada

    Dear Brian,

    A few points of clarification.

    You can find CGU’s news release on the matter here (https://www.cgu.edu/news/2018/05/cgu-board-votes-to-close-philosophy-department-current-students-to-receive-full-support-to-complete-their-degrees/).

    We actually decided to close the Ph.D. program and to move to an M.A. only program with the support of the Claremont Colleges philosophy faculty back in the spring of 2017. An MoU specifying a 3-year plan to build up the M.A. program was signed on May 5, 2017. Of course, we still have Ph.D. students from previous years that we have to take care of. More on that below.

    The current decision is to close the philosophy department in its entirety and with it the M.A. program. I was informed of the intent to make the recommendation to close the department on April 23, 2018—less than a year after signing the MoU—and the Board of Trustees voted to close the department on May 11, 2018.

    The news release quotes our dean of the school of arts and humanities as asserting that “the process that led to the board’s ultimate decision was extensive and broadly consultative. The decision was not made impulsively or without long consideration and thorough deliberation.” I was unaware of any such consultations and deliberations, but if what he is saying is true, the deliberations must have started long before April 2018 and, I am sorry to say, we must have been recruiting in bad faith, however inadvertently.

    Charles Young and myself have, as of now, not been told that we have lost tenure at CGU. So perhaps we still have tenure. On the other hand, as CGU’s news release says, the plans for students “may include the possibility that CGU’s current philosophy students will be able to continue working with the university’s existing philosophy faculty.” Naturally, the plans may not include such a possibility. There is no commitment to keeping us on board even on a temporary basis, let alone on more permanent terms.

    The prospect of losing my job sucks. I can’t think of any other way of putting it. But this should not distract from the fact that the primary victims here are our continuing students. The students have come to us because they trusted our promise to give them the kind of training they wish to receive. These are Ph.D. students and the time and effort they have invested in us is significant. They now face the prospect that all of that will go to waste. So far, the only written communication they have received from the administration is an email from the dean (quoted in the news release) that was sent on May 21—fully 10 days after the board’s decision—with no deeds following up the university’s word that students will receive full support toward completing their degrees.

    Masahiro

    Reply
  2. Samuel J. Howard

    Claremont Graduate University has a Ph.D. program in religion as well, with a concentration in Philosophy of Religion & Theology. I imagine closing the philosophy program makes that somewhat less attractive to philosophy of religion Ph.D. students, who'd like to have philosophical graduate student colleagues on campus.

    Reply
  3. Jonathan

    No one should be fired with tenure, ever (or not without cause). But I do wonder what the rationale for the existence of Claremont Graduate University is now that the academic job market in all fields has cratered. My understanding is that GGU is a tuition driven institution that rarely offers remission, stipends, or teaching opportunities to its students. Maybe it had a place when there were more jobs, but does it anymore? Should anyone these days pay full tuition for a PhD without a stipend and with no guarantee of teaching? Leaving aside the question of what to do with its faculty, should an institution structured in such a fashion continue to exist?

    Reply
  4. Geoffrey

    Respectfully responding to Jonathan's post as a recent CGU philosophy grad student:

    The question of whether CGU's philosophy program should exist is, I think, too lofty and distracting for the current discussion. It may be the case that CGU had legitimate reasons for wanting the department closed (I am someone who believes wholeheartedly that it should stay open). But there are a few things to consider. If we're concerned about the status of people in the philosophy or academic job markets, then CGU's actions should be disturbing regardless of whether there are too many philosophy programs. A university which can shit down a program and fire two (fantastic) tenured professors is as much of a threat to academic jobs as an over-glutting of the job market.

    Also, we students who decided to go to CGU knew what we were getting into (to some extent). While I really do appreciate people's concerns for my high tuition and relatively low stipends (and I honestly do), there's something a little paternalistic about using these as reasons why a program shouldn't necessarily exist.

    Reply
  5. Jonathan

    At the risk of hijacking the comments, I wasn't asking whether the Philosophy department should be shut down, I was asking whether the entire University has a plausible rationale, given the current and now most likely permanent state of the job market. Should a tuition-charging, non-stipend giving, non teacher training "graduate university" exist any more? The only reason I can see, is that closing it down would put the faculty out of work. Apart from that, the rationale for CGU seems to have disappeared. The question is important I think because it addresses not only what is happening in its philosophy department, but what is happening to PhD programs and graduate students everywhere.

    Reply
  6. Geoffrey

    I do understand what you're saying and I appreciate, as you've said, that this is probably not the place for a full-blooded discussion of the topic. I do however feel that it be remiss if I didn't point out that part of the rationale for any school or graduate program seems established by output of people involved. Myself and almost every member of my cohort got into PhD programs (which is what Dr. Yamada had planned for the department) and those who were already in the PhD program are/were doing interesting research and had job prospects. As for the rest of the school, I can say with confidence that really engaging, productive research is being done in other areas as well. The situation at CGU is far from ideal and I think your points are extremely fair ones. I also think that it's a mistake that a lot of people make (often on this blog) to not look at student and faculty academic/professional output when considering whether the existence of a school or program (or type of scjool/program) is justified. That may be me being naive, but there you go

    Reply
  7. J Fraser

    "I was asking whether the entire University has a plausible rationale, given the current and now most likely permanent state of the job market. Should a tuition-charging, non-stipend giving, non teacher training "graduate university" exist any more?"

    I think you have read past Geoffrey's fairly straightforward answer to your question: some people are willing and able to pay tuition for a graduate degree in philosophy, and are not particularly concerned with securing an academic position afterward.

    Reply
  8. Masahiro Yamada

    Here is another update.

    CGU terminated Charles Young’s and my employment on June 30. While CGU made last minute take-it-or-leave-it (i.e., take-it-or-you-are-fired) offers to each of us to continue at CGU for the next two years, both the manner and content of the offers were unacceptable.

    Charles served the university for over 40 years as a much beloved and admired colleague and mentor. Instead of a decent and honorable transition to retirement that he deserves, he finds himself fired at the end of his career. Disgrace is too mild a word for his treatment.

    As for students, there still is no concrete plan for them nor any indication of a willingness to make accommodations for the disruptions that the situation has, and continues to, cause. Their fight goes on.

    Masahiro Yamada

    Reply
  9. Eric Schliesser

    Dear Masahiro Yamada (and Brian, perhaps you have suggestions),
    This is truly awful. Is there anything we can do? Do you need money for a lawyer?
    Sincerely,
    Eric Schliesser

    Reply
  10. Fidel

    I am a recent grad from the doctoral program at CGU. Masahiro was one of my dissertation committee members. I find it really upsetting that he and Charles are treated in that manner. Each member of CGU-philosophy department is a talented philosopher. Is there anything that can be done to effectively pressure CGU administration to address the awful treatments of Charles and Masahiro? Are there things that philosophy dept. alumni can do to help in this particular situation? I will volunteer to contact them, if our voice as CGU alumni will even matter to the administration.

    Reply
  11. Mohan Matthen

    My very first job was a one-year gig at Claremont Graduate School, replacing Chuck Young, who went on what must have been his first leave. My colleagues then were Jack Vickers and Al Louch. What a great first year of my professional life! I heard over the years that things were changing for the worse, but look where it has all ended up.

    I am very sorry to hear about this, and about Professor Yamada and Chuck being unceremoniously fired without advance warning. When this post appeared, they did not know; three weeks later, they were dumped. What a shameless way to treat people. I am so very sorry.

    Mohan

    Reply
  12. Ken

    The firing of Professors Yamada and Young does not clear the CGU faculty of all its philosophy professors. Patricia Easton is listed as "faculty" for CGU while occupying the position of "Executive Vice President and Provost" of CGU, a position pretty obviously in the decision-making loop about the continuing status of the CGU Philosophy program and its tenured faculty.

    I was a student in the CGU Philosophy department in the mid to late 1990s. Shortly after Easton’s faculty position at CGU began in 1995, its then Provost (Murray Schwartz) attempted to shutter both the CGU Philosophy and Mathematics departments. What happened instead was reorganization of separate departments of English, Philosophy, History, etc. into a Center for Humanities, followed shortly thereafter by the retirement (whether forced or not I do not know) of Schwartz. Not long thereafter the Center morphed into a School of Arts and Humanities, and in 2002 newly tenured Easton became its Dean.

    Schwartz’s shenanigans proved a crippling blow to Philosophy at CGU (I left for UCI in 2000). The irony of Easton participating in the killing stroke is sad indeed.

    Reply
  13. Fidel

    Ken, I think that your criticism of Patricia Easton is unfair. According to a footnote of a letter from the interim president, "The provost was recused from the discussion, and made no recommendation to me, due to a potential conflict of interest."

    Reply
  14. Ken

    Fidel – The press release linked above makes no mention of Easton nor that the CGU Provost is also Philosophy faculty. I expect that that fact may well not be apparent to those who know of this situation only from this discussion thread. How pointing these facts out is unfair puzzles me.

    Thank you for pointing out the note about her being recused in a letter from the CGU President. I didn't see any such remark in the materials posted or connected by links to this discussion thread. Could you post that letter for us? The statement you quote from the President that she "was recused from the discussion" nicely hides whether she recused herself or the recusal was imposed on her. What the supposed "conflict of interest" would be in this case escapes me, as Provosts make decisions about personnel and departmental organization all the time as part of their administrative function. Of course such decisions would affect her former department and its faculty.

    I still find it hard to consider that a Provost wasn't part of the larger decision process about shuttering the department and concocting whatever offer to Young and Yamada forced their termination. That she would be recused means she was, by her station, in that decision-making group to the point of recusal. I also find it difficult to think that the Provost wasn't involved in the decisions to keep graduate admissions open, to send out acceptance letters, and then to rescind those acceptances. An email exchange I had with Patricia about that matter mid-April framed those decisions in the first person.

    Reply
  15. Fidel

    Ken, Sorry for the late response. I understand that it is reasonable to assume that the Provost in an academic institution is more likely involved in the decision-making processes related to the closing of a department or terminations of faculty members. But your claim that "The irony of Easton participating in the killing stroke is sad indeed" is the one that I had in mind, when I said that your criticism of her is unfair. You made that claim without the knowledge of her actual roles in the relevant decisions. If she was recused from the discussion, then it is likely that she did not participate in the killing stroke (even if the justification for the recusal is weak).

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