ArizonaAdmit

Thank you, I appreciate it. I'm really alright. Well and healthy, so I can't complain too much. I haven't accepted their offer to defer until next year, though I'm strongly considering it. I actually just recently received word that I got in off the waitlist at another program, but it's not as good of a fit, and I'd be much more excited to go to Arizona. So I'm facing a somewhat tough decision. I'm still on another waitlist (that has contacted us several times to assure us that they are proceeding as usual with their admissions) that I would choose over Arizona, so I'm crossing my fingers that an offer comes through from them.

I'm one of the folks who had a funding offer retracted from Arizona, so I'm happy this thread is here. It sucks, and it was a bit devastating given that it was my only outright offer, but I'll survive. What's starting to get almost as frustrating as having my funding offer retracted is the comments from professional philosophers on the blogosphere. (I know, I just shouldn't bother reading them.) Perhaps my closeness to the situation is making me read things that aren't really there, but so many comments have the tone of 'those naive kids just didn't read their offer letters closely, silly little idiots.' There are comments that literally say "that's just the way the world works." Is it even possible to utter that sentence without condescension? I haven't seen many grad students saying things like "this is illegal, we should file a suit, they need to reverse the decision." I don't know of any of the actual admits affected by this saying that. From what I can tell, we've all been saying that it's unfortunate and upsetting. It seems like it's a violation of the April 15 resolution, to which Arizona has committed - albeit one that's more understandable given that we're in the middle of a pandemic with huge economic implications. We've perhaps suggested that alternative cost-cutting measures should have been enacted, given the April 15 resolution (though I fully admit to not know the details of Arizona's budget, maybe this really was the only or the all-things-considered best option). Yet all the comments from professional philosophers, with doctorates and tenure-track or tenured positions, are basically "bUt It'S nOt IlLeGaL.' Yes, we are aware. Have you ever TA'd an ethics class and had an undergraduate respond to the claim 'X is wrong' or 'A shouldn't have done X' with 'but X isn't illegal'? I feel like I spend so much time explaining to undergraduates that, while they may be correct, they're missing the point at issue. I feel like I need to be doing the same thing with professional philosophers in blog comments right now. I'm also tired of seeing comments suggesting that I should have seen this coming. The university did commit to the April 15 resolution. That absolutely gives me reason to expect that I'll have my offer until April 15, and it is completely irrelevant whether it's legal or not for them to rescind it. It doesn't follow from it not being illegal that I should have seen it coming. I want to comment and remind these philosophers that it takes them months, perhaps years, and several drafts to get their arguments in publishable shape - perhaps they should consider that before they post the first thoughts that come to their mind. My frustration is probably causing me to be uncharitable. But I figure a venting thread is the place to be uncharitable to people in a position of relative power. TL;DR: Graduate students: University of Arizona violated the Council of Graduate Schools' April 15 Resolution, to which the university had committed. That's not good. Professional philosophers, with doctorates and tenure-track or tenured jobs, in every single blog comment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0OP2Hmup-Y