Dear University students, faculty, and staff:
Welcome to the spring semester! We hope that you had a restful intersession full of mirth and merriment and are ready for a fantastic 15 weeks. Before we have our brief orientation on Monday, we wanted to let you know of the exciting changes going on! This semester, we issued our most ambitious target yet: to recruit 80 more students to become part of our University family!
As everyone on the recruitment staff knows, this process has been expertly carried out, and were it not for the hard work of the entire team, we would not have the 62 new members we have today among our student ranks! Please be sure to congratulate our team's great work when you see them on campus.
A few brief notes to lay out: We will no longer be offering the evening sessions of English 101 and Math 101. The day schedule remains as is! Stay posted on any other changes.
The University family is stronger than ever and it wouldn't be so without all of you. We look forward to seeing you for orientation!
Sincerely,
Knoll Stephens, President
Michael read the email several times over. He checked his watch and saw that it was 5pm; on this Friday, no one would be in the office. He furiously began crafting an email and then halted.
He'd only been working at University since last spring, so this was his forth semester. He was one of the remedial math instructors, and he spent most of his time doing algebra and geometry with students in danger of flunking out.
Michael liked his job. He enjoyed teaching Juan Ruiz, who had started the class with such a poor attitude that mere mention of math made him snarl. With careful attention, and gentle encouragement, he'd been able to pry past Juan's ornery disposition, and the boy and passed his placement exam with flying colors.
He relished the challenge of working with Verde Sol, who evidently hadn't been taught some basic rules of fractions. It had made his day when he'd seen her eyes light up as she finally understood that denominators needed to be the same in order for them to be added together.
Michael had even relished his time trying to get James White to come to class, often calling the boy's mother and grandmother to help the cause, and sending the boy himself long winded texts. He knew that college students shouldn't need such prodding, but he was a very committed instructor, and he wanted to be sure that he had done everything in his power to educate his students.
He'd never taken a sick day and never missed a deadline. He was well enough liked by the rest of the math staff, and very respectful to his superiors. He approached everything with an earnest and honest disposition that was heart warming.
In fact, just the other day, he'd been called to lunch with the President of the University and the Math Department chair. He'd been taken to a fancy restaurant right on the strip where the small University rested, and had been commended for his excellent service. In fact, they'd been so impressed by his work, that they had suggested that he switch from a daytime teaching schedule to a night schedule. They reasoned that the students in the latter class were typically weaker than the day students, and that they demanded special attention from such a "talented young educator." Though Michael had many of his own private students in the evening, he had been moved by the personal supplication of his superiors. He had readily acquiesced.
Now, he stared at the email before him in consternation. If the evening session of Math 101 had been cancelled, could that possibly mean that...he was out of the job? He stared again, and shook his head and utter bewilderment.
Perhaps he'd be able to retake his day schedule. With a sinking heart, though, he remembered that he'd in fact switched his schedule with perhaps the only one of the senior math instructors who disliked him. He'd never get his schedule back.
A fleeting idea passed him, and he had to take a deep breath to control his mounting anger. Had the president and department chair KNOWN that the evening class was going to be cut? Had they deliberately placed him in a position that did not in fact exist?
He HAD been on the job the for least amount of time of all the other instructors. And if they had only been able to get 62 new students when they were supposed to get 80, then the college was in fact under enrolled.
Michael felt the world take on a sad grey hue. He was slowly coming to an understanding: that meeting with his bosses had been his exit interview . This email was an extremely opaque, though public, way of firing him. He was devastated. He was humiliated.
Taking one last look his email, Michael's eye rested on the word "family." The irony was disgusting to him, and he slammed his computer shut. He wondered if he'd be able to get any of his private students back, as he'd sent them all to friends of his who he knew tutored. He thought about his rent and his student loans, and the computer he had promised his 15 year old little brother. His mind whirred and whirred and whirred....Finally it rested on a singular question:
When had the Academy turned so violently into the Corporation?
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