Rumors Spread After Free Speech Board Suggests Elimination of Conferences

The Free Speech Board message outside of Bates, which falsely implies the elimination of conferences

New writing painted on the Free Speech Board outside of Bates some time yesterday afternoon implied that the Sarah Lawrence administration is planning to eliminate the College’s unique conference system. The message directly addresses the President of the College, Cristle Collins Judd, and reads “Dear Cristle no more conferences = no more students = no more money.”

Some students who saw the Free Speech Board message quickly took to the Instagram page @slcanonymous to question its implications. In the comment section of one post that included two different requests for more information, one student remarked that “slc is considering getting rid of conferences for next year,” later adding that they heard this information from Art History faculty member David Castriota. This explanation sparked both anger and confusion among some students who viewed the post. One commented, “that’s absurd. [The conference system] is literally why I came here.”

These anxieties about the elimination of the seminar-conference system, however, are unfounded. Kanwal Singh, Provost and Dean of Faculty, confirmed that conferences are here to stay. The College is not removing the conference system as suggested by the post on the Free Speech Board, nor are they even considering it. 

Echoing student comments on @slcanonymous, Singh emphasized the uniqueness and centrality of the conferences at Sarah Lawrence. “The seminar-conference system, along with the component system, are two ways that we ensure the breadth and depth of academic offerings for our students. The idea that we would eliminate seminar-conference doesn’t make any sense,” she says. 

While there are curricular changes planned, which include new types of course offerings and would allow students to take a course-load of 12 to 18 credits instead of the usual strict 15, these new options will not remove the seminar-conference system. Changes to the curriculum might be on the horizon, but the conference system will remain a crucial piece to a Sarah Lawrence education. Eliminating it, says Singh, would be a “change in the educational structure [of the College] that is of a magnitude we would not consider.” 

Olivia Diulus ‘20