Newspaper Article

LETTERS

Suresh Krishnamoorthy. Lake Grove, Nancy Hager. Brooklyn. Editor's Note: The writer is chairman of the Brooklyn College Faculty Council, Assemb. Steven Sanders. Albany, Norman Shainmark. Wantagh, Lesco Centereach, Kenneth J, Rand Bayside, James A

1997

Overview

Margaret L. King misconstrues the relationship between Brooklyn College's core curriculum and recent discussions about possible new post-core programs {\"The Harvard of the Poor - Under Attack,\" Aug. 27}. The core curriculum is not being cast off. The Brooklyn College faculty and administration have worked valiantly - through a long period of deep budget cuts - to sustain and protect it and will continue to do so. It remains the foundation of a Brooklyn College education. Change that is balanced by continuity is a mark of a healthy institution. Brooklyn College's adoption of our core curriculum in 1981 was an example of change, one that was both radical and hotly debated at the time. Change has continued in the core, with courses and structures that have undergone various degrees of evolution and refinement. Today, colleges and universities across the country are discussing how to respond to new fields of knowledge and modes of inquiry that do not fit traditional departmental structures. Members of the Brooklyn College faculty interested in these issues have begun to explore these questions. It is too early to tell what may emerge from these discussions or how the campus community will react. The greatest threat to the \"Harvard of the poor\" is not an exchange of ideas about new academic initiatives. The greatest threat is an attempt to prejudge and suppress dialogue and debate. Nancy Hager. Brooklyn. Editor's Note: The writer is chairman of the Brooklyn College Faculty Council.

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