From the Community | Stanford Creative Writing Program’s tragedy and hope

In a late August Zoom meeting, all 23 current Stanford creative writing Jones Lecturers were “future fired,” meaning that half will no longer work in the Creative Writing Program after this year, with the other half gone the following year. The deans in that Zoom meeting said our teaching was “stellar” and “outstanding” and yet they fired us nonetheless.

Stanford’s “Red Wedding” has been covered in The Stanford Daily and many other media.

These specific Jones Lecturers designed and built this innovative program from what was originally 25 classes that offered only beginning and intermediate fiction and poetry, into the most popular minor (most popular minor by far) on Stanford’s STEM-heavy campus. There are well over a hundred classes today, including such foundational courses as “The Graphic Novel,” “Fiction Into Film,” “Creative Nonfiction,” the NaNoWriMo course, “American Road Trip” and many others.

The “future firings” arrive exactly a year after the Jones Lecturers asked for a raise. In addition, only four professors voted for these firings, in an English department of 35 professors.

Most people’s reaction to this news is “That can’t be true.” And yet it is true. The loss of these Jones Lecturers not only threatens the Creative Writing minor and the English major but also the stability of the creative expressions program, Stanford’s Introductory Seminars (IntroSems) and the Chappell Lougee Award.

There is an online petition to reinstate the Jones Lecturers that has been signed by over 2000 students, alumni and parents.

Yet the director of the Creative Writing Program, Professor Nicholas Jenkins, makes clear in his letter to The Daily, that these terminations will move forward. He indicates there will be no disruptions to undergraduates. He said there is plenty of money. He said that this group of current lecturers should not have careers at Stanford.

Professor Jenkins himself has literally never taught a creative writing class. He is a literary critic, not a poet or novelist or memoirist. He’s now decided to remove this group of 23 “outstanding” and “stellar” Jones Lecturers from the Creative Writing Program. The University itself seems to be backing him fully.

Their major claim is that the University wants to hire Stegner Fellows as new lecturers. Yet there are hundreds and hundreds of students on the waitlists for CW classes. We need more classes. Hiring Stegner Fellows as lecturers should not necessitate firing 23 current dedicated teachers.

The whole situation is bizarre and quite frankly suspicious. Our firings feel personal. It feels like a punishment not only to us, but to our students. You can read more about this on the Dear Stanford Substack, where alumni and students discuss their experiences and connections to the Jones Lecturers.

I’ve had a 20-year career at Stanford. I’ve created or co-created many of the essential programs within today’s Creative Writing Program. My 22 colleagues have all made significant contributions to the University, the English Department and most importantly to the lives of many generations of Stanford students.

I am making an official university appeal of this disastrous decision to dismantle the Creative Writing Program. I don’t know what a few lecturers and students can do against a $36.5 billion university, but we are going to try. Our new president has challenged us to build “a stronger culture of inquiry,” and we aim to do so.

I encourage all students and alumni to write to the Stanford English department faculty, as well as to the Provost and President, to help reverse this ‘restructuring.’ It is very important to save this unique and highly popular program, which — in its innovation and dedication to undergraduates — is one of Stanford’s most Stanford-like institutions. And one worth saving.

Tom Kealey is a Jones Lecturer at Stanford University.

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