Ryan Moore, Co-Editor-in-Chief

Professor Phillip Adamo will return to teaching duties in the history department but will not return as Honors director in the fall of 2019. Provost Karen Kaivola provided this information in an update on the reports and incident surrounding inclusivity in the Honors program to program students and faculty in an email Tuesday. The review of the Honors program being chaired by psychology professor Stacy Freiheit will continue. An email signed by both President Paul Pribbenow and Kaivola sent on Wednesday to all students, staff and faculty reiterated some of this information.

Kaivola reminded students, “Specific details regarding these concerns and the University’s response will remain confidential.” Both pieces of communication from administration specified that Professor Adamo will not be assigned to teach Honors courses while the review of the program is in progress.

The move comes as a review of the Honors program continues. Professor Freiheit will remain as interim director and chair of the review team as the process may now continue into Fall 2019. Kaivola urged students with “lingering concerns” to contact either Professor Freiheit or herself before March 15 when Honors students will be asked to assist with program recruitment.

In regards to current curricula of the Honors program, Kaivola writes, “During the review, and prior to any development or implementation of a new curricular vision for Honors, existing courses and curricular structures will remain in place.” There will, however, be opportunities for “some latitude in creating course content, design and pedagogy” within Honors courses in the next year. A change to the Honors program mentioned by Kaivola related to financial aid is that all merit based scholarships for both 2019 first-years and current students will be unaffected by participation in the Honors program.

As the review continues, Danny Reinan, a first-year student on the review team, says, “It is of the utmost importance that we hear from students within the program, as it is their experiences and voices that will shape the direction of the program.”

This article was originally published in the March 8, 2019 issue.