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Last month, an unofficial blog set up by graduate students at USC’s Roski School of Art was quietly taken down.
Petition Delivery from USC Roski MFA Class of 2015
Dear President Nikias, Provost Quick and Mr. Edward P. Roski Jr., Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the University of Southern California:
In light of the grievous administrative damages that have incurred widespread disrepute to the Roski School of Art and Design, we, the Master of Fine Arts class of 2015, hereby present the attached public petition for the removal of Dean Erica Muhl. This petition has been signed in solidarity by over 760 concerned and invested voices from the international art and academic communities. Together, we continue the call for USC leadership’s accountability in acknowledging an administrator’s destructive actions and blatant disregard of the feedback and experience of its faculty and students in support of the future of fine arts higher education at USC.
Our legitimate concerns for the restitution of the MFA program’s quality and relevant contribution to the cultural community continue to be ignored. Erica Muhl has placed the school in a litigious position through the unethical manner with which she handled the withdrawn class of 2016’s funding and curricular offers, as we know intimately, having also been coerced by the administration to accept undesired curricular changes that were not endorsed by our core faculty. Provost Michael Quick’s reply to our initial letter made it clear to us and the public at large that USC leadership continues to delegitimize our experience as graduate students and irresponsibly minimize the public representation of our colleagues’ withdrawal.
Among the many distinguished signees of our petition, some resonating comments of support include:
John S. Gordon, Director of the Center for Contemporary Arts, Santa Fe: “As a former Dean of the USC School of Fine Arts (1981-1987), I am deeply embarrassed by Dean Muhl's and USC's shameful treatment of the 7 MFA candidates whose resignations have brought national disgrace upon the once distinguished reputation of the USC Roski School of Fine Arts.”
Martha Rosler, preeminent artist, activist and educator: “The agreement under which students enter school is a contract, not subject to the whims of administrators. The conditions at SC were good for the top administrators, not for the art students.”
Catherine Opie, renowned photographer and educator: “As a professor at UCLA in art, I believe that the dean does not clearly understand how this has not only affected the students that the university is there to serve, but the ripple that has resulted in disbelief in the greater Los Angeles community.”
Judith Rodenbeck, recognized scholar: “‘Disruption’ of contractual obligations is unacceptable. And the casualization of the academic labor force--as well as, evidently, the infantilization of graduate students--is bound to dismantle what was a really interesting program. As a management strategy this is appalling, and the inverse of groveling for celebrity money in the name of innovation.”
Furthermore, it has been frustrating to witness USC leadership ignore the fact Erica Muhl was admittedly unable to recruit students to fundraise her new studio-based MFA program. She offered no dedicated graduate faculty, unlike previous years, or clear funding offers to prospective students during the Spring admissions process, yet expected the withdrawn class of 2016 to invest in this dubious program for their second year. Along with the level of public embarrassment her failure as dean has brought to the University, why does USC continue to support an unfit administrator?
This community’s call to action is an accurate, responsible and legitimate response to the Roski administration’s irresponsibility. Erica Muhl’s removal will be the start of USC’s effort to abide by their own educational mission and best practices to resolve the Roski School’s glaring crises. As it stands, the disinterest shown by USC to this very real problem will otherwise continue to be seen as an example of resounding negligence in higher education.
Sincerely,
The USC Roski MFA class of 2015
