Editor’s Note: This story has been changed to correct the wording of disillusionment to dissolution. This story has also been updated with full attribution to Cres’Sena Thomas, and for clarification on a conversation between Tamara Van Dyken and Audra Jennings.
When history professor Tamara Van Dyken received an email from her department head saying that her HIST 102 section designated to Intercultural Student Engagement Center students would no longer be offered, she felt blindsided.
“A lot of things have been happening at the university that are sort of top-down decisions, that faculty, staff, students are not involved in the full decision-making process, or even having any sort of say, and that’s extremely frustrating and demoralizing,” Van Dyken said.
Also known as World History II, HIST 102 is a general Colonnade requirement that covers major historical developments across the world from 1500 to the present.
The ISEC section of the course originated as a connected course with ENG 200 for ISEC students. The HIST 102 ISEC section had been offered since spring 2022 and included the same content as other HIST 102 sections.
Van Dyken said the section was offered as something unique for a smaller demographic of students in comparison to the makeup of Colonnades and WKU as a whole. She said that it allowed them “to be more of a majority in the courses, and hopefully have greater opportunity for engagement and participation.”
The class benefited not just ISEC students, but Van Dyken as well.
“I (have gotten to) forge relationships with students in ISEC in ways that I haven’t been able to in some of the other broader sections,” Van Dyken said.
The concerns regarding the section began with an email sent by history department head Audra Jennings, who asked Van Dyken if the disillusion of the ISEC Living Learning Community would affect the section’s offering.
The ISEC section of the class was listed as a connected course for the ISEC LLC, and prioritized ISEC LLC students’ placement in the class. However, the section was run separately from the LLC, with interested students having to contact ISEC to request a course pass for registration.
Both Van Dyken and the Director of ISEC Cres’Sena Thomas said they intended to move forward with the section, with Thomas not hearing anything regarding the section previous to it being brought up by Van Dyken.
The next day, Van Dyken said she was informed by Jennings that the class would no longer be offered. Van Dyken later informed Thomas, who said she “was not over that decision.”
“For me, it didn’t feel like there was a process,” Van Dyken said. “I suppose there was some sort of process that happened. I was not involved in it.”
The Herald reached out via email to WKU’s General Counsel, Andrea Anderson, for clarification over the decision-making process regarding the HIST 102 class on March 24 and March 26 and received no response.
Van Dyken was directed to speak with Dean of the Potter College of Arts and Letters, Terrance Brown. She said that while sympathy and regret were expressed, “the ultimate outcome was that nothing changed.”
Brown said the section’s removal was made as part of broader university efforts to match academic offerings with state requirements.
“Decisions of this nature were made through institutional processes to ensure alignment with state legislation, including House Bill 4,” Brown said.
Van Dyken said that she also spoke with university counsel to find out the university’s interpretation of HB 4, but did not receive a clear response.
Van Dyken said she feels like her lack of involvement in the removal of the section diminishes her experience as a professor of 15 years who has worked to collaborate with students and faculty across WKU.
“That should be something that we’re encouraging, not dismantling,” Van Dyken said. “That’s what’s happening here, this is something that across the university, a collaborative thing that is being dismantled.”
