College students have long been known to stand up to perceived injustices, and today, University students and alumni alike are raising their voices together and speaking out about one thing: the “phasing out” of political science instructor Ken DeBevoise.
Officials and students say the University gave DeBevoise notice of termination this term because there isn’t enough money to support him. However, the underlying issue identified by officials, students and alumni is the fact that DeBevoise has not met the standards for research to gain tenure.
This standard, students and alumni argue, defeats the purpose of a university as a source of knowledge and education, which is not solely a product of research.
“Ken is one of the best, more effective educators at this institution, and it would be a mistake to get rid of him, both for the political science department and for the University as a whole,” University junior Deborah Bloom said.
Tenured professors are expected to devote about 40 percent of their time to research and teach at least five classes. Senior Vice Provost of Student Affairs Russ Tomlin acknowledged that DeBevoise’s termination is related to research issues, but declined to comment on specifics because of legality issues surrounding personnel matters. He added that the Keep Ken Coalition is making this an issue of the University choosing research over education, but it’s not.
“It’s important to appreciate the research mission and the education mission,” Tomlin said. “It’s not a dichotomy. Our best research faculty can be our best instructors. The pitting of research versus education is an oversimplification of such matters.”
DeBevoise declined to comment and referred media inquiries to Bloom.
“It would be unprofessional and not in his best interest (to go on the record),” Bloom said. “He would like to keep his job, though — that I know.”
Several University students and alumni, including Bloom, created the Keep Ken Coalition, which has met with University officials including Tomlin, political science department head Lars Skalnes, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Scott Coltrane, and University President Richard Lariviere.
The coalition has also moved online, creating the “Keep Ken Coalition” Facebook group, which had more than 380 University students and alumni as of press time.
“As an alum, I simply feel that it is extremely important that other students have the amazing opportunity that I did to benefit from Ken’s courses,” University alumnus Myles Couch, who is also the creator of the Facebook group, said in an e-mail. “No one is claiming that Professor DeBevoise is a perfect teacher, a perfect person or even the best teacher at this University, just that he is a terrific teacher whose combination of experience and passion for teaching is irreplaceable.”
University senior political science major David Delmar said he was sold on DeBevoise’s teaching style after his first class with him.
“Before I took one of his courses, I was astonished how easy college was,” Delmar said. “I was pretty distraught at the end of the term, and wanted to leave, but I decided to give it one more shot. After his class, I felt like I was getting a real education and that I was becoming a real member of the electorate.”
Bloom also thinks DeBevoise’s classes have influenced her life.
“Not only did I become a faster reader, a more articulate person and a better student, but I left that class with a huge database of knowledge,” Bloom said. “Also, the class was really fun. I looked forward to going to that class each Monday and Wednesday and looked forward to the information that I would leave with.”
Couch, who transferred from Clackamas Community College before coming to the University, was attracted to DeBevoise’s course on Israel-Palestine relations because of a rigourous syllabus and a discussion atmosphere.
“Ken has an uncanny talent for getting students excited about scholarship, and his academic and non-academic experience allows him to create an unusually contagious learning environment where students look forward to attending class in order to discuss the assigned readings,” Couch said. “If it were not for professor DeBevoise’s classes, I honestly do not know if I would have been able to find the motivation to continue to study political science at this University.”
The Facebook group, initially created as a way for alumni to hear about and react to DeBevoise’s phasing out, encourages members to write letters and e-mails in protest and to ask the University to seek alternative solutions to policies concerning non-tenure-track University instructors. Dozens of alumni have done so.
University officials are, with the exception of Tomlin and Coltrane, declining to comment. Coltrane, who declined to be interviewed, issued a statement to the Emerald.
“(The College of Arts and Sciences) very much appreciate contributions of our non-tenure-track instructors,” Coltrane wrote. “But the first priority of a research university is to hire and support faculty who excel at all three aspects of the academic mission: research, teaching and service.”
Meanwhile, Skalnes declined to comment, instead referring Emerald inquiries to Coltrane’s statement. Neither Lariviere nor Provost James Bean responded to interview requests.
In an e-mail to Bloom, Tomlin said the political science department’s budget allowed for fewer tenure-track faculty than is ideal.
“In the long run, the University is a research university, and the distinctive strength of a research university resides in its tenure-related research faculty,” Tomlin wrote. “The Department of Political Science has decided to restructure itself and to invest additional resources in bringing its tenure-related faculty back to full strength after a long period of operating with fewer tenure-related faculty than they have been permitted to hire.”
Tomlin said the college to which a department belongs dictates that department’s budget allocations, and in cases where faculty are let go, the provost reviews the decision. He also said the University wasn’t trying to “get rid” of non-tenure-track faculty.
“The long-term goal of individual departments is to allocate money to tenure-related faculty,” Tomlin said. “However, general instructors contribute to undergraduate education, and they do so with distinction and energy.”
DeBevoise’s release is not an isolated incident, however. At least one other non-tenure-track professor will be let go next year, and students have initiated a similar movement responding to what they consider an unfair University non-tenure track faculty policy.
The Facebook group has spoken with administrators in meetings and e-mails. Some say administrators treated them rudely.
“The impression that we got was that the administration feels that students have no place expressing opposition to their educational decisions and their concerns are to be considered as little more than nuisances,” Delmar said.
When political science alumnus Edward Oser, a former Emerald employee, heard about DeBevoise’s termination, he decided to fly from Chicago back to Eugene to meet with administrators to fight for the instructor’s continued employment at the University.
“While in Eugene, I talked to community members, students, alumni, professors and administrators,” Oser said. “What I found out was that when presented with the facts, most people immediately realize that the University was making a huge mistake.”
Members of the Keep Ken Coalition have also received support from students who haven’t had DeBevoise as a teacher.
“Students who have never taken a class with Professor DeBevoise are sometimes confused about what the big deal is,” Couch said. “But when asked about how they would feel if their favorite teacher was being let go w
ithout cause, they are usually very sympathetic. No one wants a terrific teacher to slip through the cracks.”
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