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Thursday, May 16, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
OPINION

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Ann Arbor, MI 48109
 tothedaily@michigandaily.com

Edited and managed by students at 
the University of Michigan since 1890.

 ERIN WHITE
Editorial Page Editor

Zack Blumberg
Emma Chang
Joel Danilewitz
Emily Huhman
Tara Jayaram

Jeremy Kaplan
Magdalena Mihaylova
Ellery Rosenzweig
Jason Rowland
Anu Roy-Chaudhury

Alex Satola
Timothy Spurlin
Nicholas Tomaino
Erin White 
Ashley Zhang

Unsigned editorials reflect the official position of the Daily’s Editorial Board. 
All other signed articles and illustrations represent solely the views of their authors.

CASSANDRA MANSUETTI
Editor in Chief

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS

A

s two long-serving lecturers 
at 
the 
University 
of 
Michigan, we understand 
the importance of building a legacy 
for generations of students to 
come. For the past 20 and 32 years, 
we’ve taken pride in working for a 
University that stands for what is 
right, that prioritizes its students 
over profits and that respects 
faculty and its obligation to honor 
contractual agreements with all 
employees. Over the past few 
months, however, the administration 
of the University’s School of Music, 
Theatre, and Dance has shown a 
reckless disregard for all three. 
It 
is 
therefore 
with 
great 
disappointment that we write this 
letter outlining a series of deceptions, 
stonewalls and contract violations 
coming from the SMTD we know 
and love — because we know our 
University is better than this. 
Last July, the Lecturers’ Employee 
Organization 
(LEO) 
ratified 
a 
new contract with the University 
administration. The contract gave 
us the salary increases and health 
benefits many of us needed to live 
and work effectively. It also required 
SMTD to pay the two of us a higher 
salary to fairly compensate for our 
depth of experience and outstanding 
results. 
Rather than pay us our worth and 
give students the instruction they 
deserve, SMTD chose instead to cut 
our course load by 50 percent and 
66 percent for the next academic 
year. This in itself is a travesty: 
The University prioritized profits 
over giving its students a quality 

education. Even more disappointing, 
however, was the series of events 
which took place in the process of 
issuing these layoffs. 
First 
and 
foremost, 
SMTD 
violated our contract when it failed 
to forewarn us about the layoffs, 
choosing instead to wait until we 
approached them with questions 
about class cuts. 
Secondly, SMTD lied both to us 
and The Michigan Daily when it 
denied LEO’s new contract as the 
reason for the layoffs. On February 
20, the Chair of the Dance Program 
sent an email to Missy Beck stating, 
“Because of the large increase in 
LEO salaries, the administration 
would like to move as many LEO 
courses as possible to tenure track 
faculty.” When prompted by The 
Daily, however, the chair denied 
the email existed and said she was 
“amazed at how many invented 
facts are circulating.” This disregard 
for honesty and accountability is 
unacceptable.
Thirdly, SMTD continues to 
change its reasons for laying both 
of us off. Over the last few months, 
they have cited lack of qualification 
and low enrollment as rationale for 
these changes. More recently, the 
reasons have been “wanting to go in 
a different direction,” and that our 
job loss is “necessary (italics added) 
to offer additional opportunities and 
expand the learning experiences for 
our students.” Having taught here 
for decades with nothing short of 
outstanding results and consistent 
enrollment, however, we know none 
of these to be true — and are greatly 

disappointed 
by 
the 
deception 
and delays in providing rational 
explanations for these actions. 
Over a dozen lecturers and other 
allies gathered last week to speak 
out against these shameful tactics. 
Some of SMTD’s most successful 
alumni have turned out in droves to 
write letters and film videos urging 
them to reconsider this decision. 
But SMTD continues to ignore 
the pleas of their alumni who are 
Tony nominees and winners, Oscar 
nominees and winners, professional 
dancers, heads of dance programs 
in 
higher 
education, 
Broadway 
performers, producers and so much 
more, all of whom have insisted our 
work has been integral to their success. 
Students, alumni, lecturers and 
community members are coming 
together to demand better from a 
university to which we give so much. 
It is truly disheartening to see 
this University treat us with such 
disregard after we have devoted 
our entire professional lives to our 
students with such outstanding 
results. The University of Michigan 
prides itself in providing a world-
class education for its students and 
an excellent working environment 
for its staff. We call on SMTD to live 
up to this creed and treat its long-
serving lecturers with the respect 
they deserve.

MISSY BECK AND JEAN CLAUDE BIZA SOMPA | OP-ED

Missy Beck and Jean Claude Biza 

Sompa are members of the Lecturers’ 

Employee Organization (AFT Local 

6244), the union of all non-tenure 

track faculty at all three campuses of 

the University of Michigan.

SMTD needs to prioritize students and lecturers, not profits and deception

EMILY CONSIDINE | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT EMCONSID@UMICH.EDU

More valuable than a degree

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