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Dear Professor :

I am writing to you to inform you that I have decided to stay and be part of the working team of Boricua College. I am not the kind of person who leaves projects unfinished. At this moment in life, it is my priority to keep the job and contribute in the process of building an educated and progressive community.

However, making use of my constitutional right, and following the principles of this institution, I would like to express my feelings concerning the issue under consideration. I do not think that the decision taken by the Administration was fair. I truly believe that any person should not have to decide between their personal achievements and keeping a job, even less in a case where these two fields are complementary with one another.

Until now, I was convinced that any academic institution was a setting where intellectuals had freedom to extend and develop their professional abilities. I was convinced that it was a place where the achievements of a member of the faculty were not only encouraged and facilitated, but were also to be considered as a reason to take pride in. I was convinced that these professional opportunities benefited both the individual and the institution. I am deeply hurt to learn that this is not the case of Boricua College. This situation has made me feel that my successes are seen as an abject inconvenience, as something to be ashamed of. I hope that in the future, you can envision an academic setting where professors’ talents and opportunities are not constrained and even more, a community where they are allowed to grow under the same principles and values that rule our relationship with the students.

I have been advised by the organizers of the XIII Encuentro Internacional de Mujeres Poetas de la Ciudad de Oaxaca that they can kindly extend their invitation for the event to the following year, in November of 2006. I trust that one year from now you can rejoice with me for an achievement that could as well be for the advantage of the institution, favoring and supporting my participation in this important international event.

I can assure you that I will perform my duties and complete my responsibilities with excellence and integrity during the term of my contract; I do not know any other way.

Sincerely yours,


Nicole Cecilia Delgado, MA