Editor’s note: This story includes some vulgarity that may be offensive to some readers.
In a day where six-figure salaries aren’t unusual in academia, Jean Rutherford wants to teach for free.
Rutherford was one of the 14 teachers ushered into a meeting Aug. 27 to be told her contract would be terminated as of next semester.
In the months following, Rutherford, a Russian-language instructor, asked Gaines Foster, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, if she could teach sixth-semester Russian in the spring. Rutherford’s reasoning for such an offer was to allow 15 students, who had already taken five semesters of Russian, to complete their Russian minors.
Rutherford said Emily Batinski, chair of the Foreign Language and Literatures Department, stayed on Foster’s case about the situation.
“The department kept telling me that it wasn’t possible for me to teach for free,” she said.
But Rutherford finally found a solution from an unlikely source — 15-year-old program Friends of Russian.
“Friends of Russian fundraised to make money for the department,” she said. “I never knew what the money was for, and I never asked until now.”
Batinski told Rutherford the funds raised could be used for “whatever I say.”
The money raised by Friends of Russian will now go toward paying Rutherford to allow her to teach next semester.
“Though I have been fired, I have decided to retire this semester,” Rutherford said. “By doing so, I will be reinstated as a professor in the spring and will be paid by the funds raised by Friends of Russian.”
Matthew Tapley, international studies senior, said this was a huge relief.
“I was worried I wouldn’t have enough credit hours to graduate in May,” he said. “With Jean being allowed to teach next semester, I don’t have to worry about three hours.”
But Rutherford expressed her concern about the future of the University.
“Forever LSU took money from a lot of people,” she said.
“Where did it go? If the campaign made so much, how come they are cutting so many of us?”
Tapley also said he worries about the future of the University.
“This bureaucratic bullshit is entirely frustrating,” he said.
“Any types of arts and humanities are always the first to go.”
Tapley said in today’s economy, having knowledge of Russian is vital.
“There are a whole line of language you can’t ignore,” he said. “Everything is universal these days.”
 
—-
Contact Kayla DuBos at [email protected]