BY KATHRYN KLEPPINGER AND GWU COLLEAGUES

On Friday, August 11, administrators at West Virginia University announced an “academic transformation” that would cut 32 majors and possibly 169 faculty positions across the university, including the entire World Languages Department. Of particular concern to us, as language faculty at The George Washington University, was the misrepresentation of our own institutional policies by WVU leaders. The claim that The George Washington University has eliminated language requirements for graduation not only propagates false information, it also deceptively mobilizes the reputation of a major research institution to justify dangerous policies that will harm the students of West Virginia. We have therefore released the following statement to rectify the misinformation in circulation and to demonstrate the irreparable harm that will befall students of WVU if these cuts are allowed to proceed:

We, the undersigned, members of the Department of Romance, German, and Slavic Languages and Literatures, the Department of East Asian Literatures, and the Department of Classical and Near Eastern Languages at The George Washington University, strongly condemn the proposal put forward by the academic and administrative leadership at West Virginia University to dissolve the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Linguistics. This is a dangerous plan that will leave WVU’s students less competitive in the job market and with narrower opportunities to develop their careers.

It bears underlining that the justifications advanced by WVU’s leadership to promote this closure are based on demonstrably false pretenses. The George Washington University HAS NOT fully eliminated the language requirement: to achieve our mission to educate the international leaders of tomorrow, students in our Elliott School of International Affairs are required to achieve competency equivalent to 6 semesters of language study. And in keeping with the skills and approaches required to conduct work in their disciplines with integrity and intellectual rigor, certain majors in GW’s Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, such as anthropology and archaeology, require 4 semesters of language study, while other majors, such as history, strongly recommend language study. More broadly, students in our Columbian College are also required to take classes with a global or cross-cultural perspective as part of their general education requirements. Indeed, one of the reasons GW has managed to maintain its R1 status is precisely through the high achievement of our students participating in a wide range of research, including in languages and linguistics. Eliminating the program at WVU will put these students at a distinct disadvantage in the job market, as they will be applying against students who benefitted from intensive, effective language and cultural instruction in a classroom environment with professional instructors.

Cultural competency is a crucial skill in today’s ever-changing world and cannot be taught via an app. Language classes are also much more than learning to conjugate verbs: students delve into the history, politics, and cultures of the many parts of the world where English is not a primary language. As a recent article in New York Magazine argued, students should pick a practical major like French. The same can be said for many other languages, including but not limited to Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, and Russian.

We strongly urge the leadership at WVU to reassess their budgetary priorities and to put students first. Career specialists ranging from the US Department of Education to the European Union to IT and science recruiters all agree: preparing your students for future career success requires providing them with real language proficiency. And if they are not receiving such training at your institution, we encourage them to look elsewhere for a university that truly understands and values what our current world requires of the next generation of leaders.

 

Lynn Westwater, Chair, Professor of Italian

Kathryn Kleppinger, Deputy Chair, RGSLL, Associate Professor of French and Francophone Studies and International Affairs

Heather Bamford, Associate Professor of Spanish

Christopher Britt, Professor of Spanish

Margaret Gonglewski, Associate Professor of German

Richard Robin, Professor Emeritus of Russian

Masha Belenky, Professor of French

Manuel R. Cuellar, Associate Professor of Spanish and Latin American Literatures and Cultures

Immanuel Kim, Korea Foundation and Kim Renaud Associate Professor of Korean Literature and Culture Studies, East Asian Languages and Literatures.

Mary Beth Stein, Associate Professor of German

Peter Rollberg, Professor of Slavic Languages, Film Studies, and International Affairs

Orian Zakai, Assistant Professor of Hebrew/Israeli Literature and Culture

Sergio Waisman, Professor of Spanish and Latin American Literatures and Cultures

Yvonne Captain, Associate Professor, Latin American and International Affairs

Charlee Bezilla, Visiting Assistant Professor, French

Tessa Gurney, Visiting Assistant Professor, Italian

Abdourahman Waberi, Associate Professor of French

Noëlle Levy-Gires, Assistant Professor of French

Francesco L. Sinatora, Associate Professor of Arabic

Brad Marshall, Teaching Professor of French