by Lauren Wainwright

A Facebook group, “Let Ramey Choose,” has been created by students in Rowan University’s philosophy department in protest of the current predicament concerning professor Dr. Joshua Ramey’s contract not being renewed by the university.

“Let Ramey Choose” states their mission on their Facebook group page and clarifies their reasoning behind the creation of the group.

“There is an urgent matter which requires our student body’s voice. A collective bargaining agreement policy in place here at Rowan has resulted in the dismissal of philosophy professor Dr. Joshua Ramey.”

Ramey has been a professor of philosophy at Rowan for three years. John Onembo, a senior philosophy and political science liberal studies major and creator of the Facebook group, said he was informed that Ramey had been taken on as a temporary position and would be moving on in three years.

“The Teacher’s Union and the university have these agreements to protect teachers’ rights, so they won’t get stuck waiting to get tenure for 15 years,” said Onembo. “[Rowan] can’t afford to hire, even though we need another professor as a growing department. There are currently only three resident professors. The rest are adjuncts and temps.”

Marie Targonski-O’Brien, a senior philosophy major, took Ramey for an introductory course as a business major but became inspired by his teaching methods.

“It was the first time I took a philosophy course,” said Targonski-O’Brien. “I signed up on a whim not knowing I’d wind up in the philosophy major. I was a business major and on a completely different track. I was pulled in by his passion. He really inspired me. I was just like ‘Wow, this is what I’m going to do now.’”

David Acker, a sophomore history and philosophy double major and president of the Philosophy Club, also started out as a non-major when entering Ramey’s introductory course.

“He’s not getting credit for bringing students in,” said Acker. “He brought in so many students that were not into philosophy at all. It’s very rare that a professor can teach a class of mostly non-majors. They usually end up in more than just general education courses and end up with a minor.”

Acker said Ramey was a large part of bringing philosophy from a minor to a major. Both Acker and Targonski-O’Brien were not originally philosophy majors, yet after entering Ramey’s first level philosophy course, they left feeling inspired by his teaching methods to continue in their philosophy education.

“They are getting rid of one of the greatest professors in the department and losing a major part of what started the department,” said Acker.

According to Onembo, Ramey had a great teaching style that engaged and thoroughly taught his students the concepts of philosophy.

“He would get the concept clearly across and not continue to the next lesson until every single student had grasped the concept,” said Onembo. “He would rather not get to the last two concepts of the course and make sure they really understood, say, Kant, instead of not getting away with anything.”

Ramey inspired many of his students to consider philosophy as an option in their education. Some feel it would be a detriment to the philosophy department to lose Ramey as a professor.

“The worst part is, it feels like a blatant insult to students in the department,” said Targonski-O’Brien. “It comes down to values at Rowan and the values of the administration. They spend money on things that are not helping us academically, which is why we’re here.”

Members of the group, including Onembo, feel the university is taking a risk in the quality of education that they’re offering students. From the students’ perspective, Ramey is a beloved and effective professor through which students feel confident that they are being taught well. Yet, by bringing in someone new, there is a possibility that that quality may go down.

“The department is requesting a new professor, so the only reason to let Ramey go is to save some coin,” said Onembo. “By trying to save money, they are gambling with our education in bringing a new person. If we are getting an excellent education, they should be doing everything in their power to secure that education.“

The philosophy department is one of the newer editions to the university and as a result, other departments have higher priority over news ones in getting permanent positions.

Targonski-O’Brien feels that the university is creating an environment in which teachers that have not yet received tenure do not feel comfortable in their positions.

“It lowers the mentality of teachers to be treated like this,” said Targonski-O’Brien. “They have to go from job to job. It wears them out and is emotionally draining. It distracts them from teaching and research; and students have a constant flow of adjunct and unqualified teachers teaching class that are not dedicating their lives to teaching, in the case of an adjunct.“

“Let Ramey Choose” also serves as a statement that every teacher and student should feel comfortable and confident in the educational system at the university. The group also serves to emphasize that having a revolving door of professors makes it difficult for students to connect with them.

“We started this group partly because it is wrong for any professor that has put the time in to connect with their students and are beloved to go through this,” said Onembo. “They should have a choice in whether or not they stay on as a temporary position. It’s good to have tenure and security in their job but Ramey should have a chance to make the choice.”

The “Let Ramey Choose” group is still up on Facebook and currently has 71 members. Those interested interested in the Philosophy Club can inquire through their mailbox in the Student Government’s suite in the Student Center.