PNCA (Pacific Northwest College of Art) has been the home of the well-regarded Masters program fostering freedom of thought and challenging systems of oppression since 2008. 

In a shocking and unethical action, President Don Tuski has canceled the program for the 2016-2017 school term after 17 students have been admitted and are preparing to start school within one week. 

5 students met with President Don Tuski on August 19th advocating for the program's restoration, and filling in critical information he had missed. Many students have collectively spent thousands of dollars and countless hours preparing their applications, reading, quitting jobs, and relocating to Portland. A week before class, the program was canceled without any non-contradictory, substantial reason. 

If one program can be unilaterally canceled, against the policy of the college, what program is next? Academic freedom, and freedom of speech are dead in America as Colleges become the new Corporations. Professors at many colleges are being forced to sign gag orders and may lose their jobs if they speak out about unfair practices. President Don Tuski appears to be continuing the institution of these practices at PNCA. 

If CT+CR is not restored, one of Portland, Oregon's most prestigious arts institutions will lose it's reputation as a center for arts and humanities in the Northwest. CT+CR has international recognition as a rigorous program of research and learning in the arts and humanities. 

In April there were several protests at PNCA over student and faculty treatment. PNCA seems to continue this trend. Many of the faculty participating in the protests are part of CTCR and have been fired as a result of this abrupt cancelation of the Masters program. 

We the undersigned strongly urge the immediate reinstatement of the Critical Theory + Creative Research (CTCR) Masters Program for the 2016-2017 academic year with all faculty members who were scheduled to teach and direct the program including, but not limited to Anne-Marie Oliver, Barry Sanders, Joan Handwerg, Marie-Pierre Hasne, and Ellen Lesperance. This action should be taken such that the applicants who have been accepted to the program experience no interruption of their participation in the program and begin on August 29th, 2016. We believe failure to do so will result in long-term damage to the reputation of the institution with negative consequences that affect the entire PNCA community.

* PNCA’S MASTER OF ARTS IN CRITICAL THEORY+CREATIVE RESEARCH (CT+CR) prepares students for opportunities at the intersection of art, theory, and research. Through rigorous training in critical theory, research design, and methods, cultural and institutional critique, and ethics, students develop skills and modes of thinking that crisscross the boundaries between visual and verbal, linear and nonlinear, digital and analog, theoretical and practical.

President Don Tuski, PNCA: call President Don Tuski