On Jan. 24, news broke that the University of Central Arkansas is considering terminating the African and African American Studies major.
According to UCA, only 6 students have graduated from the program since 2018. The Arkansas Department of Education considers the major unviable. Some students see the term “unviable” as another way of saying “not valuable.”
The institution is weighing the possibility of transitioning the major into a minor. UCA offered the only stand-alone, degree-granting major in African and African American studies in the state, according to KTHV’s coverage of the announcement. A letter to administration penned by concerned faculty and staff quotes, “Moreover, the elimination of the major harms the goals outlined in UCA’s Diversity Strategic Plan to pursue and retain a diversified student body, faculty, and staff.”
According to UCA President Houston Davis, the department has 2 years to revamp and revitalize. At that time, the major’s final fate will be decided. Meanwhile, students, faculty, and alumni of UCA voiced their concerns and disappointment.
The recent announcement coming from UCA is completely disheartening, and, unfortunately, all too familiar. Nearly a year ago, the John Brown University administration announced that the communication department and all its majors would be dissolved at the end of the 2022 school year. Very similarly to the African and African American studies majors at the University of Central Arkansas, the communication department was deemed financially unviable.
Many of the staff here at the Threefold were left with two options, transfer to another school or switch into a different major.
We understand that institutions need to make difficult decisions. However, decisions like these show that Arkansas universities are incapable of doing the one thing we all ask of an educational institution: investing in its students. Universities across the nation continue to be run like businesses, not institutions, failing to serve and invest in their students.
The administration should prioritize their students’ academic preferences over their attempt to save some bucks or to please donors or the board of directors. In the long run, the experience of your students dictates the viability of the entire university.
When your university deems your major unviable, it feels isolating and confusing. You want to believe that the school cares about you as an individual, but it can be debilitating to try to differentiate between how your school feels about you apart from your major. It feels like the university says, “that thing you that are passionate about? It isn’t worth our time or money.”
So, we stand with the African and African American studies majors at UCA. We stand with the alumni who are shocked at the decisions of their alma mater. We stand with the professors who now have an expiration date on their employment. We stand with the students who no longer have a major but now instead have a deep mistrust in institutions.
We stand with them because we know what it feels like.
Photo Courtesy of UCA