At the end of the spring 2023 semester, the College of Bible, Humanities and Arts (BHA) faced many potentially damaging changes. Patty Kirk, professor of English, left JBU. Erin Shaw, professor of visual arts, left JBU to take a new position elsewhere. The music department also lost two professors (Connor Davis and Steve Hamilton) and Jan Lauderdale, the administrative assistant. Brad Gambill, associate professor of English, is also preparing for his retirement within the next few years.
Additionally, the communication department was cut in May 2022, and the English department absorbed the journalism minor and – with it – the Threefold Advocate student newspaper. It has been a challenge to populate journalism courses and to fill writing positions at the newspaper.
According to JBU’s “Fall 2023 Preliminary Enrollment Report,” in the last decade, the number of enrolled students in BHA has decreased drastically. The number of English majors alone has been decreasing by approximately 10 students every two years.
All of this is consistent with the national decline in humanities. The U.S. Department of Education has reported a fall in the number of students majoring in the humanities for the past eight years straight. This trend is primarily due to the economy. In the wake of financial crisis, students have shifted their views to what they believe they should be studying. The idea is that it’s easier to be more financially secure when pursuing careers in STEM than it is when pursuing careers in the humanities.
Last semester, the concern of many English majors was that the department would be cut altogether. The number of enrolled English majors is nearing the number of students that were enrolled in the Communications Department at the time it was cut. In response, Gambill stressed JBU’s commitment to allowing students of a discontinued major to graduate with that major, albeit through independent studies and adjunct professors.
In light of these trends, the department staff are “working diligently to see that the English department flourishes,” said Jacob Stratman, dean of the College of Bible, Humanities and Arts.
Professors have taken on greater workloads, put off their retirement, and continued to invest in classrooms and the department as a whole.
On Aug. 23, English department faculty hosted a kickoff celebration for the academic year. Students received English major T-shirts, which they wore the following day in allegiance to the department. The point of wearing the shirts was “to remind people that the English major is still here,” said Gambill.
There are plans for more administrative changes in the near future. Trisha Posey was recently made dean of undergraduate studies. In the wake of this change, the goal is to hire a new honors director whose discipline will be in either English or history, said Stratman.
Stratman also assured students that the department will be ready to conduct a “rigorous, national search” for Gambill’s replacement when the time comes.
Essentially, English professors care deeply for the program and the future of the department. They continue to lead diligently. And according to Stratman, as a result, students continue to be published, participate in academic conferences, run Shards of Light and The Threefold Advocate and land rewarding careers in their field.