From Professor Paulette Clancy Dear Seniors and Grads Having learned to ride at Cornells Oxley Equestrian Center, I was shocked to hear that Cornells Athletics Director, Andy Noel, has decided to abruptly end the PE program in Equitation. At the end of this semester, there will be no PE program offering riding lessons at Cornell. The polo teams and the womens equitation team will remain. See https://facebook/CornellEquitation The equestrian PE program helps about 200 students a year, many of whom (like me) did not have the money or the access to horses growing up, to check out of their stressful lives for even one hour a week. This is a far greater reach and a more diverse group than the 30 women on the Equestrian team. The lesson horses face an uncertain fate: Many will be sold. Some are very old and will be unattractive prospects for buyers even while they are still the best teachers for timid beginners with a lifetime of service to Cornell. Is this any way to treat them? I hope, like me, that you found at Oxley wonderful human instructors like Tarene Friedman whose teaching went beyond the mechanics of riding into the more zen-like aspects of teaching respect, facing your fears, teamwork with your equine partner, and having fun. If you found a caring supportive network of almost exclusively women students, staff and faculty.... If you found there wonderful equine instructors who never judged you, who listened to your fears and helped you celebrate your accomplishments, and who gave you an hour of mental down-time when the stress of your work or student life melted away.... then please do one or all of the following: 1. Write to Susan Murphy (SHM1) and Andy Noel (JAN16) to express your dismay at the closure of this program without adequate discussion of alternatives. There are issues to solve, but they are all solvable with the will to make the program work. Cornell makes a lot of noise about helping to reduce stress and anxiety and promoting wellness. Riding is the best avenue I know for all of these good things. You might mention that closing this program unfairly targets women, as the vast majority of PE Equitation students are women. 2. Sign the PE Equestrian programs petition on change.org: change.org/petitions/the-physical-education-department-at-cornell-university-susan-murphy-and-andy-noel-bring-back-the-equitation-pe-program?share_id=mOcFOkZqLe&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=share_petition&v=control&x=~open_graph_autopublish_experiment 3. Send my email to your horsey alumni friends and ask them to send letters to Susan Murphy and Andy Noel. Your personal letter will be the strongest weapon you can wield right now. We can make a difference- we just need to speak up. Some of the PE instructors, those with 4 legs, have no voice. Be there for them. Paulette
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 18:31:46 +0000
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