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April 20, 2007 > News > Rally supports lecturer Eliot

Rally supports lecturer Eliot

By Lily Chun | Thresher Editorial Staff

To protest the termination of Kinesiology Lecturer John Eliot’s contract, about one hundred students gathered in front of Willy’s statue Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. Eliot, whose appointment was scheduled to end June 30, was denied an extension December 15 by interim Kinesiology Chair Gary Wihl, who is also the Dean of Humanities.

Baker College junior Eric Neuhaus organized the movement to protest Eliot’s contract termination. In January, Neuhaus created a petition to Wihl to keep Eliot at Rice that about 300 students have signed.

Students who participated in the rally talked about Eliot to passersby and asked them to fill out letters to Wihl about how Eliot impacted their lives.

Neuhaus took a class with Eliot and felt Eliot left a positive impression on him. He said Eliot’s class was more influential than an average Rice course.

“Eliot came in as a guest lecturer for the UNIV 309 class, and it just blew my mind,” Neuhaus said. “I pushed around my schedule, and I had to take summer school to take his class, but it was totally worth it. He’s an extremely effective teacher. And the thing is, he doesn’t teach quantitative material — you learn a lot about yourself, your friends, the people around you.”

Wiess College senior James Rapore also took a class with Eliot and attended the rally.

“Eliot has given so much to the students, and we feel that the administration should recognize that and keep him,” Rapore said. “Not allowing [him] to stay at Rice is not recognizing the value of education.”

According to a memo to Eliot in December, Wihl said. “As you know from our discussions in the department this year, revisions to the three program tracks are under consideration as we continue to develop new thinking about the curriculum. Faculty appointments will have to be based on the specific needs of each of the three department programs.”

Eliot said he feels Wihl’s decision to reject his contract extension was another example of a cursorily discussed decision within the kinesiology department.

“Most of the [kinesiology] faculty was not consulted on any of the decisions,” Eliot said. “Only one faculty member of the department was working with the dean to propose a new curriculum.”

Wihl could not be reached to comment.

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