Does the Administration honestly consider foreign language an expendable part of our education? Are dysfunctional new buildings more worthy of our tuition dollars than introductory French and Spanish? !Queremos aprender el espanol y no podemos!
The University’s recent decision to cut sections of introductory French, all of introductory Spanish, upper-level Italian, and second year ASL is utterly illogical. Their justification, besides lack of funds, is that students truly interested in French and Spanish would have advanced beyond the introductory level in high school.
This is simply not so. As in all liberal arts schools, students are encouraged to explore various areas of interest at Wesleyan. We should be given the opportunity to learn new languages upon entering college. If a student has recently decided to pursue a Latin American Studies major, for example, an enormous barrier now stands in his or her way. Isn’t the job of the University to take down those barriers?
Above all, the University should facilitate the learning of Spanish, considering it is one of the most popular foreign languages among students and that the Spanish population in the United States is rapidly increasing. Their cutting of introductory courses shows a complete lack of common sense and understanding of the student body. Believe it or not, we do not watch enough Spanish soap operas to skip Spanish 101.
Last year, ASL students successfully campaigned to keep second year courses available, due to the high level of interest among students, the presence of Sign House and the proximity of the American School for the Deaf to campus. Now, suddenly, the University has decided to mimic under-funded public high schools and inhibit our opportunities for learning. Wesleyan needs to remember its role as a leading educational institution and devote its energies to maintaining, at the very least, such essential courses as foreign languages.
To solve budgetary problems, the University might want to consider cutting an overpaid administrator or two. Or, they could spend less than five billion dollars on the next ugly building they decide to put up. Either way, something needs to change.
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