Marshall Kitchens, recently retired associate professor of writing and rhetoric, died on Nov. 16, 2024. Special Lecturer, Cindy Mooty-Hoffman, died on Nov. 17, 2024. Both professors passed away as a result of long struggles against cancer.
“It is with a very heavy heart that we share the news of the recent passing of two dedicated faculty from the Writing and Rhetoric department,” Amy Pollard, OU-AAUP executive director, said in a bereavement notice.
Marshall Kitchens was an associate professor of writing and rhetoric at OU since 2001. Kitchens was also the inaugural chair of the department and director of the Meadow Brook Writing Project, offering teacher training in writing instruction and summer writing camps.
“He worked in the Oakland University Prison Creative Writing Program at the Thumb Correctional Facility in Lapeer, Michigan,” Megan Shoen, Writing and Rhetoric department chair, said. “In 2024, Dr. Kitchens was honored at the Founder’s Day Faculty Recognition Luncheon for excellence in service and for excellence in online teaching.”
Kitchens created online courses for first-year writing and peer tutoring. He also focused on how digital technology affects social interaction within diverse communities.
Before his retirement in 2024, Ph.D. Kitchens conducted research in creative nonfiction, prison writing programs, technology and pedagogy and video game culture. He also taught composition courses, literature, culture and rhetoric classes.
Cindy Mooty was a special lecturer at OU starting in 2012 and a visiting assistant professor since 2023. Mooty served on many department committees, including the First-Year Writing Committee and the Writing Excellence Awards.
“In 2014, she received the department’s Special Lecturer Award for Student and Community Engagement,” Shoen said. “In 2019, she received the department’s Timothy J. Briggs Special Lecturer Award for Teaching Excellence.”
Mooty combined Aristotle’s appeals and fallacies with group projects working on multi-media platforms to foster a supportive community of learners.
Ph.D. Mooty was also a journalist before teaching philosophy, composition and business writing at OU. She made students active participants in her courses, incorporating an inquiry-based curriculum and scaffolded rhetoric assignments.
Both Mooty and Kitchens graduated with their Ph.D. in English, Rhetoric and Composition from Wayne State University. They were part of the Writing and Rhetoric Department at Oakland University.
“Marshall and Cindy were well loved by their colleagues and their students,” Pollard said. “Their absence in the department has left a large hole and they will be missed immensely.”
No funeral or memorial arrangements have been shared as of yet.
