Assistant Director of the International Relations program John Jenke has been a legend on the Tufts campus for over a decade. His door was always open for students in need of advice or even a good, intellectual conversation about current events. With some 80-odd advisees, his ability to maneuver through the ever-changing IR major requirements was unparalleled. Many in the Tufts community believe that Jenke, was the heart and soul of the Tufts IR program -- this University's most popular major.
In the past week, it appears that something has gone drastically wrong. In an e-mail sent to Tufts IR Core Faculty earlier this week, the IR Program stated that John Jenke was "leaving" the University. Since then, several sources have made me come to believe that the abrupt circumstances in which he left the University were less than fair and just.
Jenke has been in his position as assistant director of the IR Program for the last 12 years. On occasion he has run the program virtually on his own, when there was no director or program administrator. The quality and visibility of the IR program goes beyond Tufts because of Jenke's efforts.
I personally have known Jenke in an academic/professional context for almost four years. He has provided me with much-needed guidance in the production of Hemispheres, the Tufts student-run IR journal. While I am not one of his "official," advisees, he put time and effort into helping me wade through scholarship applications. He was one of the few faculty members who made themselves available as I tried to set up a thesis committee while studying abroad. Jenke is one of my true college mentors. He is the rare type of teacher and professional that goes above and beyond the basics of his job description. In doing so, Jenke has made the IR Program, and the University, a better place for all. I know that I am not alone in this sentiment, and I wish to present a collection of opinions from the IR community about his departure:
As one Tufts IR Core Faculty member has written, "John's generosity and patience with thousands of IR majors is nothing short of notorious. For many of our majors, John's is the face of IR."
As Rodrigo de Haro, a Tufts senior IR major and one of Jenke's advisees stated, "[Jenke's] help is one of my fondest memories of Tufts. I really hope [the administration] can reconsider this decision."
Sadaf Gulamali, a senior and IR major who has worked in the IR department for four years said she was upset by the way the situation was handled. "Being there for four years, and just knowing him as a person, I can't imagine what he could have done wrong. The IR Program could not be what it is today without him."
Senior Pritesh Gandhi, an IR and economics major said, "I think it's a loss to the Tufts community, to the institutional memory of the IR department. His leadership and dedication reached far beyond the IR Program. He doesn't just advise you about school, he advises you about life. The IR Program is understaffed and underfunded, but because of John Jenke it has been the number one IR Program in the country."
As Tara Heumann, a senior IR major notes, "Students valued Jenke because of his intelligence and candor. He treated students like mature scholars and always maintained his professionalism."
The University simply cannot afford to lose a person of Mr. Jenke's caliber for trivial or unjust reasons. If Mr. Jenke has been wrongfully dismissed, the Tufts community deserves to know about it. Indeed, we deserve the chance to be able to do something about it. Please send a printed letter to the president and the provost of Tufts demanding an open and public inquiry into the nature of Mr. Jenke's departure. The students and faculty of Tufts, who have benefited from Mr. Jenke's wisdom, vision, leadership and dedication for so long, deserve as much. Mr. Jenke himself, a man of integrity and character, who has done so much to improve this University as a whole, deserves at least as much.
