[Anna M Evans]

No audit has EVER been done of the Poetry Center accounts since its inception in 2000, to my knowledge, and definitely not since the meeting of August 26th.

[Wendy Sloan]

Shouldn't the whole poetry community be united, then, in demanding Kim's immediate reinstatement?

If they won't even articulate, let alone prove, grounds for her summary removal -- and that removal ruins things for hundreds and hundreds of people -- it seems to me we should all unite in demanding that Kim be reinstated and the status quo maintained and the Poetry Center & Conference continue to operate while whatever alleged issue(s) are hashed out.

I just don't see why we should take this lying down.

[Mary Meriam]

Originally Posted by Lorna Blake

The Advisory Board did, in fact, recommend that the Poetry Center’s Director proceed with a request for an independent audit of the Center’s finances for reasons of generally accepted financial best practices and because such an audit might prove useful in the Center’s future fundraising efforts. The motion to proceed was unanimously approved by the Advisory Board.

I hope that the Poetry Center Advisory Board will soon make a public statement in unanimous support of Kim and demand her immediate reinstatement. Likewise, for any other Board or public figure with some clout.

[Richard Epstein]

I would always be inclined to believe that the individual is right, the institution wrong. Having said that, I don't believe "the whole poetry community" is particularly focused on poetry conferences. Some of us just stay home and write. Of course maybe that's why we're not part of the community.

RHE

[Chris Wilson]

Disclaimer: pure speculation. I don't know jack about academia. That said, I was trying to reconcile the disparity of WCU saying that it had planned this reorganization for some time with the decision to cancel the 2015 poetry conference. I mean, if I were planning for some time, I'd plan to have an acting director who could take over immediately. Unless I didn't want a couple hundred Bridgford fans on campus a couple of weeks after tenure decisions are announced.

[R. S. Gwynn]

Chris, no one has been especially forthcoming about the reasons for Kim's dismissal. I do hope that they are sound ones, not a sudden caprice. Has West Chester officially stated that this was in the works for a long time? Even if true, it would be very difficult to bring in an interim director for 2015 at this time. There is no director and no conference secretary, indeed no staff at the Poetry Center right now. I really think that, given the circumstances, a 2015 conference is pretty much out of the question. I can see no sound reason why Kim should not get tenure, based on her publications and teaching. If she doesn't, then we all should have legitimate grounds for protests.

[Chris Wilson]

That's what I'm thinking, too, Sam--see if they can gin it up again in 8 or 9 months. Especially after a significant "effort" at "rebuilding" "for 2016." If I were a planner. But I can't even close read a newspaper, much less the stars.

[John Whitworth]

If there is a poetry community anywhere then I want no part in it. Indeed I want no part of any community at all.

[Wendy Sloan]

Ha Ha! Richard & John ... my, my, so literal ...

I suppose I asked for that. I did rather wave a red flag in front of the bulls ...
But, if you really want to sit alone and write, if you don't want to have any part in any community ... your option, of course ... joining the conversation with your fellow poets on Eratosphere might not be the best way to go about it ...

[R. S. Gwynn]

Please complete this sentence: Living in a community of poets would be like living in . . .