Letter in Support of Language Programs at WVU

CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY WORLD LANGUAGES COUNCIL

Bakersfield ∙ Channel Islands ∙ Chico ∙ Dominguez Hills ∙ East Bay ∙ Fresno ∙ Fullerton ∙ Humboldt ∙ Long Beach ∙ Los Angeles ∙ Maritime Academy ∙ Monterey Bay ∙ Northridge ∙ Pomona ∙ Sacramento ∙ San Bernardino ∙ San Diego ∙ San Francisco ∙ San José ∙ San Luis Obispo ∙ San Marcos ∙ Sonoma ∙ Stanislaus

August 22, 2023

Gordon Gee President

West Virginia University

Dear President Gee,

As the president of the representative body of the world languages, literatures, and cultures departments of the twenty-three campuses of California State University, I am writing to urge you to reconsider the recommendation to dissolve the Department of World Languages, Literatures and Linguistics and eliminate the language requirement for all majors at West Virginia University. In the August 11 edition of WVUToday, you state that you “must have the programs and majors that are most relevant to [our students’ and our state’s] needs and the future needs of industry.” Although industry is an important part of our society, the main goal of corporations is to build profit for shareholders, and not to do what is in the best interests of the state and its citizenry. While a university education is not intended to be a vocational training program, it is nonetheless important to prepare students to be productive members of society, both as employees and entrepreneurs, and the needs of industry will be inadequately met if the state’s flagship university can no longer produce graduates who can communicate in other languages. Although economic pressures force all of us to make some difficult decisions, we must never forget our main mission as public universities. Knowing other languages has long been considered a hallmark of education, and it does not benefit WVU students to deprive them of this opportunity. As the flagship public institution of higher education in West Virginia, WVU is duty-bound to provide the opportunity for all students to receive a full liberal arts education and to cultivate more informed and educated citizens and participants in our democracy.

Although our curriculum must continue to evolve and take advantage of new technologies, I fear that relying upon online language apps and universities geographically distant and culturally and academically different from your own campus, sharing only a common athletic conference, suggests a misunderstanding of the true purpose and process of learning new languages. Learning a new language is indeed a skill that can come in handy when touring other countries, making new friends, or negotiating business deals, but in the context of a liberal arts education, the purpose and benefits of learning a new language are so much more. When learning a new language, one gains not only the ability to understanding the world through new eyes, but one thereby also a deeper insights into one’s own culture and self. Learning a new language also strengthens the ability to communicate in one’s native language. In fact, learning a new language is fundamental to the very heart of a liberal arts education. Although learning languages may rarely lead directly to a job in industry, this can also be said of learning a musical instrument or playing an athletic sport; mastering these activities makes stronger, more self-confident, and capable citizens that will have better chances at succeeding in today’s society.

Enrollment in the humanities is indeed declining, but how much of this decline is due to the influence of statements and actions such as those published in WVUToday? When you as the top leader of a flagship public land-grant university say that the humanities are not important enough to support, the average student will believe you and chose classes accordingly. When you say that languages can be farmed out to other universities, or even to online apps, why should this not be true of all other subjects? Just as there are some innovative ideas to save the Mining Engineering Program and Petroleum and Natural Gas in the face of declining enrollment, there certainly are better solutions to bolster the languages and humanities. For the good of the state and people of West Virginia, not to mention this country and the grand experiment of democracy, I trust that you will spare the flagship public university of West Virginia the indignity of becoming a vocational school influenced more by the demands of industry, job markets, and budgetary profit than by the greater good.

Most Sincerely,

Curtis Smith (Aug 22, 2023 21:31 PDT)

Curtis Dean Smith, Ph.D. President

California State University World Languages Council

curtis.smith@csus.edu

Statement in Support of AAPI Communities

The CSU World Languages Council stands with members of the Asian, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander communities. As an organization dedicated to supporting and celebrating diversity and internationalization across the CSU, we strongly condemn all forms of anti-Asian and anti-Pacific Islander rhetoric, harassment, violence, and microaggressions. Individually and collectively as language educators, we pledge to use our voices and positions to increase understanding, and to reduce xenophobia on our respective campuses and in the communities we serve.

March 23, 2021