Help Support the Jack Kerouac School!

      Below, I've copied the students' letter to the general and larger community. Below that, I've copied some information received recently from Joe Richey.

In Solidarity,
Soma Feldmar
Naropa class of 2000 (BA) and 2005 (MFA)


Dear Beloved Community,

     In the last year, students have watched the legacy of Naropa deteriorate. As of June 15, twenty-three beloved staff, who have devoted several years to Naropa University, were laid off. Included in these layoffs were administrative directors for each department as well as the sole diversity coordinator at the University.
     The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics fears for the heart and soul of our beloved institution. The school was founded in 1974 by Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. Its mission as a private, non-sectarian liberal arts college is inspired by a unique heritage which honors contemplative thought, critical and creative practice and freedom, and academic integrity. Naropa is more than a school; it is a community that has always been a place of honesty and visionary leadership. Unfortunately, we, the current students of the Jack Kerouac School, fear the current administration may not be aligned with the core values of Naropa.
     Naropa is in dire straits. As a result of the recent review of the University by the accreditation board, we are now required to fulfill the following directives within the next two years:
     First, the entire school is going through a budget reduction and academic reorganization. A committee called the Faculty Executive Working Group (FEWG) has been formed for the purpose of creating plans to restructure the University in order to accommodate the budget cuts. The five model plan, which would likely be the least compromising for the Jack Kerouac School and the Writing and Poetics Department, would incorporate The Jack Kerouac School as part of the Writing and Poetics Department. The four model plan would dissolve the Writing and Poetics Department into an overarching creative arts program. This would mean that the Jack Kerouac School would no longer have its own budget and as a result would be subject to complete control by a “general” dean of the entire arts department.
     Students have not being informed of the above changes or consulted as to what would best serve the student body and sustain the vibrant legacy of Naropa University. We have the right to transparency. We have the right to be involved. Why is Naropa leaving us in the dark? Without answers from the University, we are left with rumors and questions. Those who do not know what truly makes Naropa the place we love are flagrantly dismissing and excluding us from the information and decision-making processes.

Thus, We Who Love Naropa demand the following:

1) That the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics retains all ideals and values that the
student body wishes to preserve, many of which appear on the official website.

“Our programs emphasize traditional and experimental approaches to creative writing in Poetry,       Prose and Translation within a variety of genres. Literature courses and the thesis requirement of a final manuscript also emphasize the development of critical writing.

All classes are taught by active, published writers, giving a practitioner's insight into literary art. Our curriculum includes opportunities for students to learn how to teach their craft, exercise performance skills, and develop as practicing writers in the world.

The Kerouac School educates students as skilled practitioners of the literary arts. Its objectives include embracing a disciplined practice of writing, and cultivating a historical and cultural awareness of literary studies.

The Kerouac School is distinct among academic writing programs because of the lively and diverse community of writers who trace their genesis and inspiration from a wide range of aesthetic and social movements, including postmodernism, Buddhist and contemplative teachings, the l-a-n-g-u-a-g-e school of poetry, the New York schools of poetry, the Black Mountain school of poetry, the Berkeley and San Francisco Renaissance, the Black Arts movement, the Beat movement, Surrealism, Dada and the Harlem Renaissance. One tradition that is emphasized is the Outrider lineage—a heritage of counter-poetics operating outside the academic mainstream.”  (www.naropa.edu/academic/graduate/writingpoetics/)

If budget constraints require a consolidation of the Writing and Poetics department and the Jack Kerouac School, the legacy and spirit of the Jack Kerouac School (which was an important part of the Foundation of Naropa University) must be retained without changes.

2) Increased transparency of school finances, including but not limited to the following documents:
a) Budgetary plans for recent, past, and future goals.
b) The FEWG Faculty Committee Report detailing what changes would be the least drastic alternatives.

3) Access to all ideological restructuring plans. (For instance, are Stuart Lord, Naropa President, and all other administrators aligned with the mission and spiritual values of Naropa?)

4) A voice in all decisions surrounding the restructuring process.

5) That the Diversity Advocate position to be reinstated.

6) Increased student participation in the University’s operation, including but not limited to the presence of a student-run committee at all faculty and administrative meetings pertaining to any major departmental, university, administrative, faculty, financial and academic decisions. Included in this demand is the formation of a Student Finance Board.

As we descend into a realm of Transformation, from language to social and environmental structures, Naropa has been iconic in the metamorphosis of some of the most brilliant and cultivating minds in academic history. The Jack Kerouac School has molded and trained many successful writers in a close-knit community retaining a love for language and the written word. We owe this school our support and love and it is our duty to see it stand, strong and stoic, for our school’s future. We refuse to continue being pushed to the sidelines, forced to watch this deterioration unfold.

Our Voices will be heard on Friday!
Stay tuned...
The Committee Thecommittee1974@gmail.com



And from Joe Richey:
Unhappy Fiscal New Year!
Boulder, July 1, 2010

     On Thursday afternoon, Anne Waldman’s Socratic Rap was overtaken by a discussion of the budgets cuts at the Jack Kerouac School, the Naropa Summer Writing Program, and Naropa University in general. On Wednesday evening about thirty or so students, faculty, alumni gathered in a large circle on the grass south of Naropa. Major grievances were aired: unfair cuts of essential jobs and services, the timing of the cuts (at the outset of the Summer Writing Program), stonewalling, withholding on the part of top administrators. Students question whether Naropa will be able to deliver what was originally sold to them
      Anne Waldman, Director Emeritus of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, clarified a lot about new academic models being proposed. Only two weeks ago did she and others in Writing & Poetics become aware of the proposals.
      At this writing, what form the Kerouac School and the Writing Program at Naropa will take is still being decided. Key stakeholders, students, workers, and alumni have inserted themselves into the structural adjustment process. Naropa President Stuart Lord is expected to appear at a meeting by Thursday, July 8th at 8:30 AM.
      A public hearing of poets, writers, and community members will also be held on campus 2130 Arapahoe at 6 PM, Friday, July 2, 2010.
      Tuesday, July 5th there is an all day sit-in, teach-in at Naropa under the sycamore tree 2130 Arapahoe Avenue in Boulder.

Joe Richey
Naropa Class of 1983