Liberty University told its philosophy faculty that the their department and their jobs were being eliminated as of June 30th of this year. The news was shared on Facebook by one of Liberty’s current philosophy professors, Mark Foreman, who wrote:
“Liberty University has chosen to completely dissolve the philosophy department. As of June 30 I am unemployed. There was no advanced warning that this move was being considered, according to Professor Foreman. There is no tenure at Liberty University. Nor is there any retirement program. Details are still unclear, as there has been no official announcement from the university. However, it appears that all of the professors whose primary appointment was in philosophy were fired…”
Virginia ABC news affiliate reports: President Jerry Falwell said the department is being dissolved and students will not be able to receive a degree in philosophy from Liberty. Dr. Scott Hicks, interim provost for the school, said they could not keep an entire department going on how few students were seeking the degree. “We didn’t have a lot of students in that field to sustain the number of faculty we had,” Dr. Hicks said. Liberty University added a lower level philosophy course that many students can now take in hopes that this will spark interest and later they can re add the department as an option. (via Michael Kremer)