I am reaching out on behalf of the University of Vermont’s Goodrich Classical Club as one of its presidents.
I am sure you are aware by now of the plan proposed by the College of Arts and Sciences to phase out 12 of the college’s 56 majors, 11 of the college’s 63 minors, and four of the college’s 10 master’s degree programs. As an active member of the Classics department, I, and many of my peers, find these measures to be both extreme and disturbing.
The university believes our department is unsustainable due to the small number of registered Classics majors. However, this does not encapsulate the value of the department. Many students complete general education requirements by taking Classics courses. For example, the department offers a mythology course, generally taken by upward of 150 students, that fulfills the World Literature requirement.
Additionally, the administration did not renew our senior lecturer’s contract or replace our ancient historian post-retirement. These circumstances made it necessary for the Classics department to tailor classes to serve graduate and undergraduate students simultaneously, a fact that the administration has now used as evidence of our department’s unsustainability. The administration has rendered us inefficient and now seeks to blame us for it.
The University of Vermont advertises itself as a liberal arts college, and, as such, many humanities students attend it. Therefore, they are obligated to support their humanities programs. It is imperative that all universities offer a well-rounded curriculum to all students, and cutting smaller departments defeats that goal. Humanities programs encourage critical thinking and help develop reading comprehension skills that are essential to professional situations.
The system of incentive-based budgeting, recently adopted by the university, is impractical when applied to the College of Arts and Sciences, as its very function is to offer a wide range of subjects supported by smaller departments. The new model prioritizes large class sizes over the well-being and scholarly interests of individual students.
The Goodrich Classical Club is reaching out to you because we hope that your publication will be interested in covering these developments. We understand the financial realities that Covid-19 has imposed, but saving the humanities is crucial. The Classics department, alongside many others, such as the Asian Studies and the Geology departments, have been targeted for years. The Goodrich Classical Club would be happy to provide comments for potential articles. We care deeply about the future of Classical studies and wish to support our professors.
Meghan Keefe
UVM student
