Read Online Winter Jacket: New Beginnings by Eliza Lentzski - Free Book Online Page A

to the conference room flew open with Kathy from Sociology on the other side, looking more agitated than usual.
    “She did it,” she said, slightly out of breath. “I can’t believe she actually did it.”
    “Who is ‘she’? And what did ‘she’ do?” Penny asked gently.
    Kathy wiped at her forehead. I wondered if she’d run across campus. “Dean Merlot canceled my summer session to Costa Rica. She said that the funds for the course had been reallocated.”
    “What?!” Gemma from the Psychology department exclaimed. “She can do that? Is that even in her job description?”
    Kathy waved a stack of papers she’d been clutching in one hand. “I printed out the emails to show you. I don’t even know how she got included on the email thread. I was emailing with the Registrar about opening the course cap so more students could enroll, and suddenly I had an email from Merlot informing me that plans had changed because the funds were no longer available. This is the beginning of the end, people,” she ranted. “Once Administration starts telling us what we can and cannot teach, say goodbye to Academic Freedom as we know it.”
    Penny’s aged face scrunched with maternal concern. “But what about the students who’ve already enrolled and are counting on those credits?”
    Kathy sat down in the vacant chair beside me with a dramatic grunt. “Merlot told me I can do the class, but it has to be on campus.” She raked her fingers through her short, tussled hair. “I have to completely redesign the course now. How can I do a service-learning class on women’s reproductive health issues in developing countries without actually being in a developing country ?” She made a frustrated sound and threw her hands up. “I’ve been planning this class for years ! All the contacts I had to make and the red tape to go through – all for nothing.”
    “Did the Dean say where the funds had been reallocated to?” my friend Emily asked.
    Kathy shook her head vigorously. “No. I asked, but she hasn’t replied yet to my emails.”
    “That bitch,” Gemma from Psychology seethed. “Someone needs to yank that stiletto out of her ass.”
    “Gemma,” Penny scolded. “That’s not very sisterly of you.”
    Gemme frowned, but looked properly chastised.

“You should go talk to Merlot face-to-face, Kathy,” Emily reasoned. “Maybe there’s been a misunderstanding.”
    Kathy looked wistful, but clearly defeated. I bit my tongue. I wanted to share my own frustrations about the Dean and the thinly-veiled warning that I keep my gay to myself. My own problem felt insignificant, however, compared to Kathy’s. At least my classes weren’t getting canceled.
    Peggy stood up. “Well, I did call this meeting to address a recent outbreak of student plagiarism, but I think we’ve had enough bad news for one day,” she announced. “Who wants donuts?”
    +++++
    Instead of indulging in donuts and continuing to complain about Dean Merlot, fueled by unnecessary carbohydrates, I hiked up the multiple flights of stairs to the English department offices. I liked bakery pastries as much as the next woman, but in my experience it wasn’t productive to simply complain about the administration’s decisions. If we wanted to affect change, we needed to take an organized proposal or petition to the faculty senate. And to be honest, my tenure was still too new for me to start rocking the boat.
    When I reached the appropria te floor, there was a group of professors hovering outside of the mailroom door, nearly blocking the entrance to the department.
    “What’s up with the traffic jam?” I asked Thad, one of my Associate Professor colleagues.
    “ Haven’t you checked your email?”
    I shook my head. “No. I was in a meeting this morning.” And in my girlfriend’s bed.
    “Dean Merlot put everyone on blast,” he frowned. “Everyone’s teaching is going to be evaluated before the semester is done.”
    “ Everyone’s ?” I