Arabic instructor leaves, rehiring process to begin

Lewis & Clark’s only full-time Arabic instructor, Adelaide Byrum, left her position after the Fall 2019 semester, citing issues of undercompensation for increasing administrative duties. Byrum has been at LC since the Arabic program’s inception in 2015.

With Byrum’s absence, Afaf Azaz — an adjunct instructor of Arabic — took a heavier course load and is teaching two sections (ARB 102 and ARB 202) this semester. A search will soon be underway for a full-time Arabic instructor.

Matthieu Raillard, chair of the World Languages and Literatures department, and Oren Kosansky, director of Middle East and North African (MENA) studies, are leading the search process.

“We’re not going to miss a step,” Kosansky said. “Addie (Byrum) was integral to building this program, and the success of the program is largely based on her ability as an instructor and administrator and just a great person. We wish her well in her new endeavors and where she’s going, and we’re sad that she’s gone. Her leaving, though, doesn’t in any way threaten the Arabic program.”

Modern Standard Arabic was first taught at LC in the fall of 2010, but was only offered to those studying abroad in Morocco the following spring. In 2015, Byrum was hired to help develop the program. 

“When Addie was hired, she was a bit of a guinea pig because the program didn’t exist,” Raillard said. “So she knew that she was going to step into a program that didn’t exist and would have to help develop and she did so very well.”

With increasing demand for the program, Arabic expanded to offer 200-level courses. Although Arabic is not yet a minor or a part of the World Languages and Literatures major (which requires a major and minor language), Arabic courses are required for the MENA minor.

Byrum was officially given the title of section head of Arabic in the spring of 2019 to recognize the work she was already doing and to respond to the growing demand for Arabic at LC.

In a December 2019 email sent to Arabic students, Byrum states that in Fall 2019, she received a salary offer of $50,380, which she did not think adequately compensated her for her extra administrative duties. These include supervising a new advanced Arabic independent study, sitting on the MENA minor steering committee, running a collaborative Arabic program with Reed college, and hiring and training a new adjunct Arabic instructor every fall. 

Byrum states in her email that after negotiating with Bruce Suttmeier, the dean of the college, she was offered a $2,000 stipend for her section head and administrative duties. Byrum argued that this stipend was not enough to cover all of her duties outside of teaching. Suttmeier declined to comment.

After considering the cost of living in Portland, Byrum decided to leave her position at LC, and academia altogether. 

“Most importantly, I realized that I would never be able to buy a home in Portland on my salary,” Byrum said in an email to The Pioneer Log. “I believe that I should be able to buy a home within a reasonable commuting distance from my place of work on my salary as Arabic instructor and section head at this college, without having a partner.”

Byrum moved back home to Pittsburgh to start a union carpenter apprenticeship program, in hopes of building her own tiny home.

“I am not only leaving for myself,” Byrum said. “I’m leaving because it pains me to see my colleagues (some approaching retirement age) struggling financially and dealing with the ongoing stress of not feeling appreciated by their employer.”

Many of Byrum’s former students were saddened by her departure, including Ellie Miller ’20, who is now in ARB 202.

“Addie is one of the best language teachers I’ve had, and made learning a difficult language fun and less intimidating, especially as a beginner in 101,” Miller said. “I understand the reasons why she left, but it’s a shame the school wasn’t able to keep her on the faculty.”

Miller hopes that the school expands the Arabic program beyond the 202 level.

“It’s such an important language and lots of people want to learn it, so a school with such an international focus should be able to encourage their students in enrolling and continuing further study,” Miller said. “It’s always hard to get a new program going, but Addie made a great start and I think the interest is there for it to keep growing.” 

Although Byrum is gone, Raillard and Kosansky said that the future looks bright for Arabic at LC. 

“I’m really optimistic,” Raillard said. “The demand is there. The interest is there. It’s an important language. It becomes a question again of stabilizing things and then funding moving forward.”

They hope to work towards establishing an Arabic language minor and integrating it into the World Languages and Literature major. The Arabic program will continue to partner with the bi-annual Morocco study abroad trip, and the proposed language-intensive Jordan trip.