Gary Aguiar

I am appalled and saddened by the personal attack written by Kevin Hoekman on my close friend, Dr. Brady Phelps.

If Mr. Hoekman had attended the meeting or discussed this with other faculty, he would have quickly discovered that many faculty are angry about the procedure for introducing this required paragraph in our syllabus. I, too, was one of the faculty who spoke out against this unnecessary intrusion, which further demeans and de-professionalizes faculty.

Mr. Hoekman’s ignorance about this topic is illustrated in several ways. First, faculty at South Dakota’s public universities have faced decades of tyrannical power from the Board of Regents.

In the BOR’s drive to create a single statewide university, faculty continue to lose control over our classrooms, our syllabi, the academic content of our courses and the methods by which we teach. This has degraded and diluted the education we provide students as evidenced by this letter from a poorly-informed student.

Soon, the greatness and uniqueness that is SDSU will be lost as we strive to meet “one-size-fits-all” rules that harm your education, Mr. Hoekman. Why aren’t your student leaders decrying the potential “watering down” of your degree instead of building their resum