Philosophy
chairwoman voted out
By Mari Shinkai
On-line Forty-Niner
For
the first time in the history of the philosophy
department a serving chairwoman was voted
out of her position before the end of her
term last week. Professor of philosophy,
Julie Van Camp’s dismissal has sparked a
controversial issue of whether gender played
a role in the decision.
Department chairman or woman in philosophy
normally serve two three-year terms, for
a total of six years. Van Camp was completing
her first term this spring, and had hoped
to serve for a second three-year term, when
she was voted out by the department in a
recall procedure provided for Academic Senate
policies.
Van Camp is only the second chairwoman of
the department since it was established
in 1958 and of the 11 voting members of
the department, only two are women. Van
Camp is the only one with tenure.
“I don’t mean to suggest [gender] is the
only problem, but I do think that gender
has a lot to do with my removal,” Van Camp
said.
According to Van Camp, the philosophy department
has had difficulties sharing an ideal vision
for the department, especially with tenure-track
hiring.
“Part of the issue in philosophy has been
an increasingly divergent view of the best
direction for our department to take in
the coming years,” Van Camp said.
In the entire history of the department,
only four tenure-track women have been hired.
While the department has hired eight tenure-track
assistant professors, only one has been
female since 1995.
Daniel Guerriere, professor of philosophy
emphasized that there is no relationship
between the recall and gender of Van Camp.
“No motivation, or vote, of anybody in the
department was gender-specific,” Guerriere
said.
However, he also emphasized that the gender
issue which Van Camp has argued since she
chaired has affected the department’s environment.
George Al Spangler, professor of philosophy
will replace Van Camp as a new chairman
as a result of the election, which is scheduled
on March 10 for the three-year term to begin
on August 2003.
Al Spangler was Chairman of the department
from 1994 to 2000 and said that the removal
of Van Camp had “nothing to do with gender”
and he refused to comment beyond that.
Both Academic Affairs and Liberal Arts also
agreed that the recall of Van Camp was not
gender-specific, but fairly guided by the
university policy.
Van Camp pursued many new initiatives in
the philosophy department, funding them
by restructuring the department budget and
aggressively seeking additional funding
to benefit the department.
“Professor Van Camp did a lot for the department
as chair to improve the physical conditions
and faculty support, and brought in external
funding for the department,” said Dorothy
Abrahamse, dean of liberal arts. “I think
that the faculty would all agree with this,
and they have said so to me.”
“Professor Van Camp did a lot for the department
as chair to improve the physical conditions
and faculty support, and brought in external
funding for the department,” said Dorothy
Abrahamse, dean of liberal arts. “I think
that the faculty would all agree with this,
and they have said so to me.”
The number of undergraduate majors in philosophy
department was doubled to 118, along with
almost 50 MA students while Van Camp served
as chairwoman. Almost half of the majors
are attracted to the department for the
pre-law program, which she initiated in
1994, including Krstyl Veal, senior philosophy
major.
Veal explained that Van Camp influenced
many students in large and positive way.
“From a student point of view, the department
has been changed for better than ever because
of her,” Veal said. “I just want to know
the real reasons for the change.”
Some students even found conflicts and anxiety
for the change in the philosophy department.
Angelika Meyer, senior philosophy major
called the recall of Van Camp “repulsive.”
“It’s disturbing that they felt the need
to remove her,” Meyer said.
According to Van Camp, she will not fight
for the ouster.
“I’d never win and it would just get even
uglier than it is now,” she said.
Van Camp will remain on campus as a professor
and concentrate on teaching and advising
pre-law students.
“I have some projects I’m working on where
I can pursue what I think I do best on this
campus—working with students,” Van Camp
said.
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