HOLLAND (WHTC-AM/FM) — More than 70 Hope College students, most of them music majors, staged a protest Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018, over changes in faculty and classes this semester.
“Despite student attempts to communication with Administration, Hope College has failed to thoroughly communicate these changes with their tuition-paying students.”
Students are upset that key faculty members, such as Brad Richmond, director of choirs and the annual Hope College Vespers service, are not teaching this semester.
The changes include the sudden death of historian Jonathan Hagood, 43, Hope College’s associate dean for teaching and learning, and the Hope Music Department Chairman, on Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2018. He had been a faculty member since 2008.
Students marched across campus carrying protest signs, some of which said “Bring Our Profs Back” and singing one of Richmond’s original compositions.
The protest ended in the backyard of the Hope’s presidential residence, where students took turns speaking about why each was specifically upset regarding the changes.
According to students, Richmond and Hodson are suspended, J. Adam Briggs, who teaches saxophone, and Genevieve Beaulieu, who teaches bassoon, were fired, students said. Jennifer Wolfe, professor of music and director of the women’s choir was demoted and Brian Coyle, director of jazz students, was removed from that program, which he created, according to students.
Hope spokeswoman Jennifer Fellinger told WHTC that, because the situation is about personnel matters, some details about specific employees can’t be shared.
She confirmed that two full-time faculty members had been suspended. No full-time faculty members were terminated, Fellinger said, but some part-time and adjunct faculty contracts were not renewed for the fall semester, as “student demand and faculty performance vary.”
Other contracts were adjusted, she said, in response to accreditation requirements and enrollment needs, as well as to ensure that tenure-track faculty had full class schedules.
Hope’s annual Vespers service remains set for Saturday, Dec. 1, 2018, and Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018, she said, with returning alumnus Chris Dekker, a recent Notre Dame graduate, directing.
On learning about the protest, one Holland resident, Rick Van Slooten, posted a long comment on WHTC’s Facebook page, writing in part, “Not happy at all with this news! I just bought Vesper tickets and will be returning them. Brad Richmond has been a key figure there for years! This is very sad news indeed for students as well as people who regularly attend Hope’s musical events.”
