The following is a letter to President Friedman from Pace student Eleni Gast, a junior majoring in English with double minors in Peace & Justice Studies and Journalism. It is printed here with the student’s permission.

Hello President Friedman,

Yesterday I was handed a flyer by the Adjunct Professors Union [sic], outlining their list of grievances against their treatment by Pace University under your leadership. The very fact that they were enlisting the help of students speaks volumes about their discontent with their working conditions.

As I have been pursuing my degree, many of my professors have been adjunct, and I am writing you this to voice my strong concern over their situation. Every single one of my adjunct professors here at Pace have been the most helpful, engaging, and dedicated instructors I have ever had.

I am sure the adjunct staff have sent you and the Pace Board a list of their grievances, and I would like to strongly urge you to comply, and give your faculty what they need. I know that these professors have helped to mold the young, productive citizen I am becoming, and I would hope that the university that has been treated me so well will also treat my instructors well.

Thank you for reading this, and I hope to hear back from you. I hope that your adjunct faculty will soon receive the treatment and benefits that they need and deserve. I hope that you admire the tenacity and spirit it took for these professors to stand up for what’s right. And I hope to see them rewarded for their continued, loyal service to the students at Pace University, like myself, who have come to depend on them.

“I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.” – John Steinbeck