Students at UT-Austin Protest Consolidation of Departments
“I’m disappointed that my tuition, my time, my work is going to a university that doesn’t care”
You’ll never guess which types of departments are being consolidated.
CBS News in Texas reports:
“I’m disappointed,” UT Austin students protest department consolidations
University of Texas at Austin students rallied on campus Monday, voicing concern over the university’s plan to consolidate several academic departments.
Students held signs reading “Stop the Consolidation” and “Protect Ethnic Studies,” calling for no eliminations.
“I’m disappointed that my tuition, my time, my work is going to a university that doesn’t care,” said Yani Ayala, a junior majoring in Race, Indigeneity, and Migration.
Evan, a senior in American and African American Studies, added, “I may, depending on what the future may look like, be the only class to ever have the experience of multiple different departments.”
The protest follows a message from UT President Jim Davis announcing a major restructuring of the College of Liberal Arts. The plan will merge seven ethnic, cultural, and language studies departments into two new academic units.
Ayala said the changes are personal. “I’m from Puerto Rico, and I come from a place that’s primarily Hispanic,” he said. During his freshman year, he says these departments became safe places for him and other students. “You would like always find people of color, students living there, just like, you know, doing their homework, having a conversation.”
University leaders said the review that prompted the restructuring highlighted major differences in department sizes and suggested some programs may function better if combined. In a statement, the university said, “These two new departments reflect our ongoing commitment to academic excellence and our responsibility to ensure that every student at UT Austin has access to a balanced and challenging educational experience.”
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Comments
“I’m disappointed that my tuition, my time, my work is going to a university that doesn’t care,” said Yani Ayala, a junior majoring in Race, Indigeneity, and Migration.”
Boy, chickie, after you graduate, are you going to be surprised at how much the world cares
(Also, I misread her major as “Indignancy,” which was too on the nose,)
Then rather than consolidating them, how about abolishing classes on worthless subjects such as “Race, Indigeneity, and Migration”, and Grievance Studies? These subjects are incompatible with academic excellence, let alone with a “balanced and challenging educational experience”.
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