Introduction by Mack Benge
This letter was written by Denver J. Garcia, an alumnus of the graduating class of 2016. It is addressing the current co-presidents Father Killian Malvey and Dr. Roy Henderyickx. In this letter, the alumni covers the Benedictine values of Dignity of Work, Community and Stability and how they believe that the terminal contracts are violating these values. The Belltower received this letter on March 24th at 12:15pm.
An open letter to Co-Presidents Dr. Roy Heynderickx and Father Killian Malvey, OSB
I am writing to you both as a proud Saints alumnus who is profoundly concerned about the future of our beloved university. I don’t know if either of you remember me, but I had the pleasure of interviewing you both when I was a Staff Writer for The Belltower.
I’ve always had my issues with the university administration, but I never felt compelled to speak on the record about said issues because I felt it was out of my lane and there were many other people who were much better qualified to address them. However in the past week over a decade of campus politics reached their culmination, and the end result is so egregious I feel compelled to go on the record and do what I can to combat it.
My time at SMU was the best era of my life, by the end of my first day of AHANA I knew I couldn’t have picked a better school. I immediately felt the warmth of the community and was enamored by the Benedictine Values that formed it and the centuries of tradition I suddenly felt an heir to. I believe the recent decision to give terminal contracts to 20 some tenured faculty is not only near sighted, but is an existential threat to SMU and the very values it was built on.
Dignity of Work and Respect For Persons are the most obvious example of a Benedictine Value being negated by the terminal contracts. SMU’s professors go above and beyond to give their students the best possible experience, both in the classroom and beyond. This is balanced with vigorous scholarly work which often leads them to out-of-state conferences, sometimes even overseas. To renege on their hard-earned tenure is an ungrateful, un-Christian, and nearsighted course of action.
Community is another Value that is being undermined by terminal contracts. Many of the professors on the chopping block have been working at SMU for a decade or even longer. As a result they’ve all developed close friendships with their colleagues, and this will all fall apart if they are forced to find work elsewhere. The website FAQ insists that these terminations won’t affect current students, but they will. The affected faculty are some of the most passionate about their students, to this day I am as good friends with many of them as I am my classmates. Student life simply won’t be the same without them. They have done so much for me, I owe it to them to speak up for them in their hour of need.
Finally Stability is at risk. Even when I was a student SMU had a difficult time hiring and retaining new faculty. The pay is the worst for private institutions in Washington, so only those who deeply believed in SMU’s communithy accepted job offers. Tenure is supposed to be a guarantee of stability, but being able to revoke it on a whim makes it effectively meaningless. Now any prospective professor will see a university that talks a big game about values but can’t be bothered to pay competively or provide real tenure, the latter being something even a high school does. This will make finding anybody interested in working at SMU even more challenging, with many leaving the moment they get an offer anywhere else. In short, it will replace our stable community with a revolving door.
The future of SMU can be saved by returning to the Benedictine Values. One in particular is vital to solving this crisis: Listening. Listen to the faculty, listen to the students, and listen to the alumni. Listen to them and you will hear an overwhelmingly unified voice telling you to honor the contracts, honor the handbook, and honor the Benedictine Values. Don’t lay them off to save thirty pieces of silver, and don’t sacrifice our Benedictine heritage for a pottage of lentils.
– Denver J. Garcia, Class of 2016
The Belltower 
Thank you, Denver, for writing this. I applaud your boldness to speak the truth and stand up for what blessed us so much during our time there. You make some valuable points, and I hope they will be weighed accordingly.