Support for Edgar González and the Bachelor in Design

The following article is an opinion piece written by an anonymous undergraduate design student, thus it does not reflect the official views of The Stork, nor the personal views of The Stork’s Editorial Team.

On the 30th of June, five days before graduation, the IE Design program received the news that the Associate Dean of the Bachelor in Design, Edgar González, was let go. To most students and faculty this came as a very big surprise. As a design student about to graduate myself, I could not imagine receiving my diploma from anyone else. 

The last few days have been very confusing; many of us don’t understand how this could happen so suddenly. Edgar was not only well respected by the faculty, he was also the person responsible for creating the Design degree from scratch. It is a very unique degree, with a holistic and innovative approach that is still unheard of in most institutions. In its short existence, the degree has boomed in popularity, with student enrollment growing tenfold in the last six years. 

Without Edgar, and no new associate dean named, many fear the degree will lose its unique characteristics, including its expansive curriculum and excellent faculty. As a result, over the past few days, parents, alumni, faculty, and students, both from the Design degree and from many other degrees offered at IE, have signed a form that vouches for the value of Edgar’s work and presence within the Design program. Furthermore, this form asks IE University administration to review his abrupt dismissal. Backed by this collection of signatures, design students will write a letter to the management of IE stating our concerns and request. 

If you would like to support this cause, please follow the link below, and be sure to sign and confirm the email for your signature to be valid. Thank you for your support!

Petition to Review Unexpected Dismissal of Edgar González 

Featured image courtesy of author