There are a few dozen regular tour guides at Amherst College. We tell thousands of people every year that Amherst College is a special, wonderful institution, and we talk about the professors at Amherst extensively. We explain that professors give the energy and time it takes to help any student. We tell the world that going to Amherst is special and wonderful in large part because of the professors.

This letter is about Tom Smith, a philosophy professor. He is in his last semester here at Amherst. Last week, Andrew Bruns '07 wrote an article ("Red Tape is No Reason to Let Go One of Amherst's Best Professors") that seemed to explain some of the reasons why we are losing him. This week, the campus community has talked about it over meals, at meetings and on the Internet. But it is doubtful that anyone knows the full story. And it doesn't matter, either.

Professor Smith didn't kill anyone. He didn't hit a student, and he didn't do anything else similarly egregious. All he has done is show how mentorship can be a powerful tool of personal growth for students. All he has done is give countless extra hours to students who want to learn more. All he has done is read over papers and produce pages of comments for students that he might not even have in his classes. All he has done is embody the tour guide story and justify its continual retelling, because he knows what it means to be a great Amherst professor, he loves to do what he does and he is great at it.

For reference, here are the types of responses I received when I asked tour guides if I could publish this letter in their name:

• "Yes, yes, TPS!"

• "This sounds like a great idea."

• "Never taken a class with him, but a professor who has created such a strong student following must be worth re-hiring."

• "Yes yes yes yes yes. He is the best-when I was a prefrosh, I actually sat in on his class and it was a major reason that I decided to apply early decision and come here-I love TPS."

As tour guides, we believe in what we tell Amherst's visitors because of professors like Tom Smith. Whatever the reasons for the current situation, the school should try to keep him, given that these reasons aren't murder, lack of teaching ability, or failure to live up to (and exceed) the Amherst standard of teaching. This is an open letter to the administration to do what is necessary to keep Tom Smith.

Oren Krinsky '07

Editor's Note: This letter represents the views of a group of tour guides, rather than that of the Office of Admission.