An update on a long-ago prayer request.

Because I hate to leave people hanging.  A little more than a year ago I posted this:

[Prayers requested] for longtime online friends facing an uncertain future and the prospect of uprooting their young family after a completely-unexpected denial of tenure, which means having to look for another job quite soon. The field is not one with lucrative alternatives in the private sector, so they face considerable hardship and a difficult job search. They are shocked and unprepared.

(Just so nobody gets confused, the person I was posting about is *not* anyone who frequently comments on this blog.)

The day I posted it, the professor friend started a Hail Mary tenure appeals process.  They kept friends updated on the twists and turns through Facebook, so I've been able to follow along for an entire year.   Let me just say that the word DRAMA does not begin to describe it.  According to my friend, one particular departmental colleague, apparently for personal reasons, had worked behind the scenes to subtly torpedo the  application.  

The decision to appeal was a difficult one because it reduced the energy available to spend looking for a new position.  The husband and wife constantly worried that they were making the wrong decision to press the appeal forward.  But they were very concerned about the effect on their family of uprooting them again.  It was an awful year in many ways, one in which their faith in basic human goodness was severely challenged.

However, today my friend was able to publicly announce the news:  success!  The appeal went through and the letter for tenure recommendation is now in. 

So, if any of you saw the original post last May and spared a thought or a prayer:  thanks.  

Comments

[Christy P.]

I shudder at the thought of working within what must be a pretty toxic work environment. A cruel system indeed, but perhaps better now that the factions are evident.

[bearing]

I got the impression that it wasn't toxic at all within the department except for the machinations of this one particular colleague. It was at the provost level that it got torpedoed; apparently almost everyone else in the department was supportive. I think the prof friend is glad to continue working there.

Still, what a nightmare!