29 April 2010

Dear Michael Driscoll, Waqar Ahmad, Margaret House, and Ed Esche,

I am writing to convey my disbelief at your decision to close the philosophy department at Middlesex. As a current member of the Society of Fellows at Harvard University, and a former Charlotte W. Newcombe Fellow at Cornell University, I have witnessed firsthand the extraordinary reputation and esteem that the philosophy department at Middlesex enjoys at research institutions in the United States.

At both Harvard and Cornell, Middlesex has come to figure as a university with stature, and as a prestigious institution for the pursuit of scholarship, thanks to the work and the influence of its philosophy department. To close this department would be to send an unequivocal signal to the academic community that Middlesex is not serious about research and the mission of higher education. For the sake of the reputation and the standing of your own university, I urge you to reconsider your decision.

Yours sincerely,
Martin Hägglund
Society of Fellows, Harvard University