Plea for letters

October 2, 2010

Dear MAT students and alums,

Most of you have probably received and read the latest MAT Newsnotes, sent to you by Sr. Catherine with her letter explaining that she was denied tenure this year and will necessarily be leaving St. Kate’s at the end of the term next June.

Many students and alums are now gathering support by writing letters to the four principal players, viz., Sr. Andrea Lee, Dr. Alan Silva, Mr. Mark Chronister (chair of the board of trustees), and Ms. Colleen Hegranes.

I’m writing to you today as a MAT student, and likewise encouraging you to write your own letter to these people, and offering my thoughts based on questions some students and alums have had regarding what exactly to say in those letters.

 I am attaching Dr. West’s document on the process that Sr. Catherine took in applying for tenure and the events that followed. Also, I am sending a list of the names and mailing addresses of the four principal players. (I am going to hand-address my envelopes, I don’t know, it might look more personal.)

I hope that our individual, personal letters will reflect our scholarship, respect, professionalism, and honesty, tenets that Sr. Catherine taught us in her classes. I also hope that our truest feelings will emerge as we write our letters and that we find within us the exact words that express our deepest and best thoughts, hopes, and decisions surrounding the administrators’ denial of Sr. Catherine’s request for tenure. We will win their hearts by telling them how we felt about their decision, how we feel about Sr. Catherine, and how she more than lives up to the excellent standards exemplified by the university in their mission/vision statement as well as the statement in the section titled “Educating to Lead and Influence.” (see link below)

If you feel as strongly as I do about their decision, and you have been wondering whether to support the university in the future, either with donations or by bringing new students to the school, I think that the administrators need to hear that as well.

Here are a few links to some of the things I have been highlighting:

·         Facebook page with Dr. West’s letter: http://stkatesvoice.blogspot.com/2010/09/full-story-from-dr-west.html?spref=fb

·         Facebook page with key players names and addresses: http://stkatesvoice.blogspot.com/2010/09/list-of-key-players-and-their-addresses.html?spref=fb

·         Facebook page with a copy of the recent MAT Newsnotes: http://stkatesvoice.blogspot.com/2010/09/voice-from-theology-students.html?spref=fb

·       St. Kate’s webpage with our mission/vision statement: http://www.stkate.edu/pages/aboutstkates/mission_vision.php

·         St. Kate’s webpage with the “Heritage” statement “Educating to Lead and Influence:” http://www.stkate.edu/pages/aboutstkates/leadership.php

·       St. Kate’s webpage , Sr. Andrea Lee’s page. There is a lot of good stuff here. Check out her speeches, especially the one from May 2008:  http://www.stkate.edu/pages/president/index.php

If you know of any students or alums not included in this mailing, please forward this.

The more people who send letters to the Key Players, the more chance we will have at the possibility of a reversal. You know, miracles do happen.

Also, if anyone desires to gather to pray, to support each other, I would strongly encourage that you do that with your friends and classmates. We are grieving, but we are also taking action. And we are a fantastic community, our MAT students and alums!

The faculty contact for supporting Sr. Catherine is Dr. Tom West. His contact info is in the Newsnotes.

Peace and joy,
Kathy Berken