Letter from playwright David Henry Hwang about the Stanford firings
We’ll feature some of the letters from the wonderful “Dear Stanford” Substack. We’ll bold particular sections. One of the letters is from playwright David Henry Hwang, a Stanford alum and parent of a Stanford alum. David has kindly given us permission to reprint.
All letters are in response to Stanford University’s decision to ‘future fire’ all 23 of the Jones Lecturers in Creative Writing, a year after those lecturers lobbied for increased salaries.
August 26, 2024
Dear Stanford,
A long time ago, I was a Creative Writing major at Stanford (class of ‘79), where I first started writing plays. Though Stanford at that time didn’t have playwriting classes, I found a professor, John L’Heureux, who taught Modern Drama and served as Director of the Creative Writing Program. I asked John to read my plays. He told me they were really bad (which they were), but then helped me create a playwriting focus within the Creative Writing program. In my senior year, I wrote a play to be performed in the lounge of my dormitory (Okada, then called Junipero). Fourteen months later, that same play, FOB, opened Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in New York City. Over the intervening decades, I have been fortunate to sustain a long career. I’m a Tony Award-winner & three-time nominee, a Grammy winner & two-time nominee, and a three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, who is currently in rehearsal for my ninth Broadway show.
My daughter, who graduated from Stanford with a degree in English (class of ‘23), forwarded an email to me that the Jones Lecturers program would be phased out. As a professor of Theatre at Columbia who served for eight years as Head of Playwriting, this decision strikes me as short-sighted, if not ignorant. Though we didn’t have Jones Lecturers in my day, I have learned that they currently advise 90% of the Creative Writing students and teach the overwhelming majority of undergraduate courses. If Senior Faculty members intend to increase their teaching load to make up for this deficit, fine. Instead, it seems there’s a plan to hire shorter-term Lecturers (presumably, at lower pay). I feel this would be a terrible mistake.
A major component of teaching Creative Writing lies in the continuity of instruction. Over three years, John L’Heureux read my (mostly) bad plays, and a few which were less terrible. His advice was sometimes brutal, but always honest and inspiring. He came to know me as an artist and tracked my growth as well as my setbacks. We stayed in touch over the years, and I even had the honor of visiting him in hospice. Lecturers hired on one-year contracts are obviously unable to gain insights into the longer-term trajectory of their students.
The timing of this decision to terminate the Jones Lecturers one year after they successfully petitioned for increased compensation, benefits, and security is difficult to ignore. Over the years, Stanford has sometimes spotlighted me as an example of its commitment to the Arts and Humanities. I cannot help but feel that this commitment is now in jeopardy. It would be sad indeed if Stanford’s success at STEM has caused it to lose sight of its larger mission, and the university is now choosing to become more like M.I.T. (which, incidentally, has some excellent Creative Writing instructors).
I fear that future classes of aspiring Stanford authors will no longer have access to the life-changing opportunities my daughter and I enjoyed. I strongly encourage you to reconsider these changes to the Creative Writing Program and reinstate the Jones Lecturers. Thank you for your attention and consideration.
Sincerely,
David Henry Hwang
Playwright and Professor of Theatre
