I’m a graduate of UNM’s English-creative writing department. This story in the Daily Lobo this morning hit me in the face like a bag of nails. Sharon Warner, the program’s director, is stepping down. Apparently, Lisa Chavez, an instructor, posed on an S&M website with some graduate students and didn’t get punished (enough?) for it. (There’s a punishment joke in here somewhere, but I’m not going for it.)I’m a huge Lisa Chavez fan. I had a couple of classes with her and thought she was brilliant. Her poetry is often breathtaking. It’s clear to me that I don’t have an unbiased view of this situation. But it seems to me that graduate students are not little kids. All have said they weren’t coerced or recruited to take the pictures. I’m not sure what all the fuss is about. I’m pretty sure I would feel the same way no matter who was involved.Warner’s been with that department forever. Really? She’s going to step down over this?What do you think?
Sssscandal!
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