SUBJECT: Linguistics at &NAME Dear &NAME , Many of you may by now have heard the shocking news that the University of &NAME is intending to close its Linguistics Department . &NAME &NAME has written to ask whether colleagues might feel able to write to the &NAME &NAME in protest . My own feeling is that it would be right to do so , but I would not wish to speak for the Association without asking members for your views . If the general feeling is that the Committee should not write on behalf of the &NAME , I will be writing in any case , in my own capacity as a Professor of Linguistics at another &NAME University . However , my feeling is that a letter from one of the main learned societies in the academic discipline involved might be helpful to the case . Views , please ? I will be away from &NAME from lunchtime on Sunday until Thursday morning , and not accessing e-mail , but on my return I will post a summary if colleagues have contacted me off- list . Best wishes , April Professor April &NAME Head of Department Department of English Language and &NAME University of &NAME &NAME , &NAME &NAME , &NAME President of the Linguistics Society of &NAME &NAME For more information on the &NAME , including details of how to join , see &WEBSITE