Father Wildes,

We know that there’s a deficit. We know that admissions will probably be down, and may not be at its previous levels for years to come. We know that Loyola must make changes or risk becoming another casualty of Katrina.

But right now, the administration is not being very forthcoming about the possible cuts; professors and students are left wondering if this is an issue of cutting one program or sweeping academic changes. The specter of termination – or strongly encouraged early retirement – hangs over even tenured faculty, and some of our best teachers will leave us for more stable institutions.

No one asked for or created our situation, and no one relishes making changes to our university. The administration’s position isn’t enviable, but we have faith that they’ll remember that academics is our reason to be. Loyola isn’t a business and shouldn’t be run with the bottom line in mind; scholarly programs should be cut only as an absolute last resort.

Though some majors have “growing” interest in the national college population and others have “poor” facilities or “low” service to non-majors, does this mean the pursuit of that avenue of knowledge isn’t worthwhile?

We know that we’re in the beginning of this process, and most decisions have not been made. But a little more transparency and a bit less vagueness would relieve a lot of tension and anger on campus. How, exactly, does one determine that an entire department has “weak” faculty potential?

We don’t need to tell you that this is a weird semester and without a doubt one of the hardest times in Loyola’s history. But there’s a reason some of us accost tour groups and practically beg the prospective students to come, and it’s not because of Loyola’s financial solvency.

It’s because of our sense of community – we know that our professors care about us, and that even small programs fuel intellectual curiosity and talent. Please make sure that in your efforts to make us stronger you don’t weaken what makes us Loyola.