Welcome to the First Shepherd College Writers Conference (Cancelled)
To Everyone Interested in the Shepherd Conference: It is with great regret that I must inform you that the conference scheduled for June 4-6, 2004 has been cancelled. I did not make the decision to cancel this conference lightly. I fully support the objectives of the conference and believe that it is exactly the kind of literary event that Shepherd University should be proud to host. Over spring break of this year, however, an air-quality test revealed the presence of asbestos fibers in two of our dormitories, Shaw Hall and Thatcher Hall—the two dormitories that we had scheduled for use by conference participants. Because of concerns with public health and legal liability, the Shepherd College administration decided to close both dorms immediately. Four weeks later, students have not been able to retrieve their possessions from their rooms, and we do not anticipate being able to open the rooms to the public until some time in August. For the past three weeks, I have worked closely with conference organizers and college officials to come up with a viable solution that would allow us to hold the conference at the scheduled time, but that now does not appear possible. No other campus dormitories have the facilities that we require for the conference, and the closing of Shaw and Thatcher Halls has created a ripple effect that has significantly increased demand on all other residential areas for the entire summer. We are simply at the mercy of Federal (EPA) guidelines for air quality. In making the decision to cancel the Inner Voices Conference, I want to express my deep gratitude to Professor Barbara Cummings, who spent countless hours during the last year and a half organizing the conference and lining up an impressive slate of speakers and presenters. As I reviewed Barbara’s work, I became increasingly excited to participate in the conference myself, and I sincerely hope that we will be able to reschedule so that all of her truly amazing work will not have been in vain. As we work to reschedule the conference, we will keep you apprised of our efforts. We thank you for your support and hope to have it again, if and when the conference is rescheduled. Once again, I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience that this cancellation may cause. Regards, Dr. Michael Austin, Chair
|
||