by Blair Vandehey and Lizzy Pantoga-Montoto
On Friday, Feb. 14, the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights released a letter written by Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Craig Trainor titled “Dear Colleague.” The letter addressed the Trump administration’s view on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), stating that America has taken on “pervasive and repugnant race-based preferences” that discriminate against white and Asian students that may come from low-income families.
“Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with the false premise that the United States is built upon ‘systemic and structural racism,’” the letter stated. “Proponents of these discriminatory practices have attempted to further justify them […] under the banner of ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion,’ smuggling racial stereotypes and explicit race-consciousness into everyday training, programming, and discipline.”
Juniors Rachel Hannel Leech and Ava Zappaterrini both spoke on the importance of DEI within the humanities departments at Lawrence. They discussed the importance of taking classes focused on marginalized figures in research for their respective majors and how those classes, which they said challenged them to think about the world through historically underrepresented perspectives, might be at risk because of the recent DEI program cuts.
“History isn’t just dead old white guys — it’s so much more,” Hannel Leech said. “Without DEI, we wouldn’t have that [understanding].”
A similar sentiment is shared by seniors Safiya Dhunna and Libby Lang-Smith. They said that DEI is something that aims for inclusivity of all different backgrounds, and they expressed that it is being misinterpreted as placing one group above another.
“I hope that people understand that when you know that something like DEI is important, you have to stand up and fight for it,” Dhunna said. “Now more than ever is a time to not be discouraged by all the bad things that are happening. It’s time to say, ‘we know what we know, and we have a place here.’”
Trainor’s letter continued, saying that it expected all educational institutions that receive federal funding to comply with the existing federal civil rights laws. The law, as addressed in the letter, claims that no student should be treated differently based on race to achieve “nebulous goals such as diversity, racial balancing, social justice, or equity.” It warned if institutions fail to comply, they are at risk of losing federal funding.
While it is unclear precisely how this will be enforced, Trainor was clear that federal law prohibits race as being an influence in decisions of admission, financial aid, scholarships, housing and “all other aspects of student, academic, and campus life.”
All educational institutions were given 14 days from the initial date the letter was released to make necessary changes.
While this is a national threat on DEI programming, some students believe that there is a closer, internal threat at Lawrence to some of the university’s humanities programs. Students found a 29-page document titled “Report of the Academic Program Review Task Force” that was written by several Lawrence faculty and administrators on Wednesday, Feb. 5. In this document, faculty and administrative members serving on an Academic Program Review Task Force reviewed the “effectiveness and efficiency” of academic departments in the university. The review contained data from the years 2018–2023, which was used to determine which programs could be expanded and those which may be at risk for size reduction or to be cut completely. Majors that were recommended for review of the latter in Spring Term are listed as follows: Chinese, East Asian studies, French and francophone studies, gender studies, German studies, global studies, religious studies and Russian studies. The review requires those departments and programs to submit a report to the Provost during Spring Term that reviews course offerings and enrollments over the last five years and provides reflection on what changes could be made in the department that could make the major and classes appeal to a wider audience. While some of these departments, such as Chinese and East Asian studies, were recommended to merge, others, such as gender studies, German studies, religious studies and Russian studies, were considered to be subjects that could be reduced to only a minor.
Administration stated that as of now, neither they nor the faculty have approved any downsizing, cuts or other alterations to these areas of study. An anonymous faculty member, however, pointed out that there is now increased pressure in the humanities departments to meet efficiency requirements as they undergo review over the next few years.
Gender studies major senior Danielle Bruce said that though it is disappointing, this possible threat to the humanities does not surprise them, citing the trend the U.S. has been taking in cutting identity-focused initiatives, DEI programs and critical race theory courses from educational institutions at all levels. They said that the gender studies department is a small department to begin with, pointing to the department having only one professor, Assistant Professor of Gender Studies Marcy Quiason, dedicated exclusively to gender studies. All the other staff in the department are cross-listed from others. They said this smallness is also reflected in the lack of a “home” hall for gender studies classes.
The threat to humanities programs at small liberal arts institutions across Wisconsin like Lawrence is becoming increasingly prevalent, as Bruce pointed out. St. Norbert College, a Catholic college located in the Green Bay area, is reportedly considering dropping 13 majors because of budget cuts, according to local news outlet NBC26. Marquette University in Milwaukee is also considering cutting or modifying 15 of their programs “due to low enrollment trends,” the Marquette Wire reported.
In addition to Bruce, many other Lawrence students, especially those pursuing a humanities degree, are speaking out on the subject.
Gender studies major senior Caroline Murray said that prior to coming to Lawrence, she thought she would be a psychology major. She said she always knew she was interested in social justice but did not have the language for what she wanted to do. In her first year, she remembered taking Introduction to Gender Studies and finding that niche she was looking for. She recounted how it had felt cathartic to take a course that focused on the history of repressed groups and their fight back.
Junior global studies and gender studies major Michael Greenland said that the humanities are important in not only developing skills of writing, critical thinking and creativity, but also in allowing students to imagine what they can do for the world and their own communities. Murray likewise claimed that she felt the humanities had made her a better analytical thinker, a stronger writer and a more well-rounded individual. She expressed how she believed that so much of ethnic studies, gender studies and global studies study different parts of overlapping and interconnected systems of power and oppression.
“The general core tenant that connects the humanities is a deep love and desire to understand humanity generally,” Murray said. “That is central to the humanities and is so valuable in defining Lawrence’s culture and higher education’s culture.”
Senior Beatrice Kennedy-Logan, an English literature major and religious studies minor, explained that some of her favorite classes she has taken are ones that are cross-listed with gender and ethnic studies. She explained how she has gained exposure to different authors, religions and ways of thinking that she did not have before, saying that the humanities are the optimal place for important conversations.
“A big reason I came to Lawrence was because of the humanities departments,” Kennedy-Logan said. “The skills you learn are widely applicable, which is often not the story that’s told about them.”
Murray said that humanities courses have a long-standing reputation of being the classes that are built on student demand, yet they are still the ones constantly being challenged.
“These are classes that truly light a fire of hope in people in a way that is needed now more than ever,” Murray said. “Were these classes not available to me, I would presently be watching the news and feel like there’s nothing in the world I could do to change anything.”
Murray claimed that this is not just a battle about undervaluation of humanities education, but it is also a battle about the undervaluation of people’s lives. She stated that it is important for historically oppressed people to know that they are worth being protected. Their histories are worth preserving and studying. In summary, she believes this is not an issue that will remain contained to education.
Bruce recounted how pursuing gender studies opened their perspectives beyond just understanding their own genderfluid identity; they said the discipline has given them the tools to recognize their own privilege and biases and those of others. Bruce said the same critical questioning and abstract thinking that is at the heart of gender studies is also at the heart of liberal arts education.
Like Murray, Bruce worried about the domino effect that the threat to gender studies poses for higher education. Alongside gender studies, Bruce worried for the future of ethnic studies, since they believe that while each discipline puts emphasis on different factors of identity, they intersect with each other and foster similar avenues of thinking about the world.
Aside from education-related concerns, they fear that other identity-based education and protection programs, such as Title IX and the Diversity and Intercultural Center (D&IC), may be at stake if gender studies is at risk.
“You have all of these [programs], but if you don’t have the main thing that’s holding it all together [the gender studies department], it’s all just going to crumble,” Bruce claimed. “You get a ripple effect [threatening] all of these wonderful establishments on our campus.”
Just as Murray did, Bruce worried that the issue may not only spill over to other aspects of the Lawrence experience but also set the stage for censorship and anti-equity initiatives in other levels of education. They said that the threat to gender studies in higher education leads to the spread of harmful misinformation.
“It becomes very easy for people to fall into ignorance, and then into being hateful,” Bruce said. “That line between ignorance and hate is so small.”
Lang-Smith, a psychology major and ethnic studies minor, said the humanities at Lawrence have played a big part in shaping her views of the world as well as her own identity. Lang-Smith comes from a rural, conservative town where she was not exposed to the diversity she has experienced at Lawrence. She said that in her high school education, history courses would skim over the impacts that the United States had on historically oppressed groups, especially Indigenous people. Lang-Smith herself is a descendant of the Menominee Nation.
Lang-Smith said that an ethnic studies minor is not something she would have initially considered as a first-year, but she took ethnic studies courses that interested her and decided to pursue the subject further. She described how taking further courses in the discipline has helped her think more critically about oppression and mistreatment.
“I love learning about how other cultures live and see the world, and I love seeing the differences in my life and theirs, and how our experiences are very different,” Lang-Smith said. “It makes me reconsider how I view things.”
Ethnic studies major junior Niranjana Mittal said she is anxious about the future of the courses in the department. As an international student, she said that her major has given her an opportunity to share her culture with other students. Mittal acknowledged her own privilege in her background — notably her being from a country the Trump administration is less hostile towards — but she also recognized that there may be international students on campus that could be at more risk.
Though she is graduating in a year, Mittal expressed remorse that the incoming classes may not have the same options in ethnic studies as she does. She said though she came into Lawrence as a creative writing major, she found not only another major in ethnic studies but also comfort in herself as a non-American student.
“[Ethnic studies] gave me a chance to express myself […] as someone who has a different cultural background than a lot of people here,” Mittal said. “It made me feel seen on campus. It gave me that opportunity to talk about things from home [Thailand] and to feel much more comfortable doing that.”
Mittal believes that ethnic studies is vital to developing knowledge of the many perspectives in our world. She said that if something were to alter the accessibility to these classes, there would be less of an opportunity for Lawrentians to build that knowledge about cultures she believes they have the basic right to learn.
“As you move on with your adult life, you only get more and more busy, and you end up dedicating less and less time to learning about […] the world around you,” Mittal claimed. “That’s how people get sucked into this bubble of ‘me, myself and I’ […] So when you have the chance to learn about […] all the wonderful people that inhabit our world, anybody should be so happy to take that chance. Nobody should [be able to] take that away from you.”
Mittal encouraged Lawrentians to take an ethnic studies course, complimenting both the department’s professors and the knowledge she has gained.
Junior Soph Kelley said she decided to pursue her Chinese major to reconnect with her Chinese roots. She spoke on the versatility of her language major, saying that the major has opened doors across disciplines but has also fostered greater cultural sensitivity in her. Kelley said she believes that without language courses to help facilitate intercultural conversations, Lawrence would become disconnected.
“We’re at a time right now when [cross-cultural connection] is very much needed,” Kelley claimed. “Losing [language courses] would only be moving further away from whatever our country thinks it’s trying to achieve.”
Likewise, Hannel Leech, a French and English literature double major, addressed the conversation around dropping the language general education requirement. She claimed that the language requirement is an integral part of a liberal arts education and being a global citizen, explaining that it enables students to expand their worldview beyond the monolinguistic anglophone world. Hannel Leech also spoke on language-learning as a direct way to combat the historically unwelcoming nature of the U.S. to people with English as a second language; like Kelley, she said knowing even some of another language creates a more welcoming environment and encourages reconnection to culture lost in the American melting pot.
Bruce was especially worried about the future of languages that do not have a department, such as their UNIC course in Arabic. They encouraged Lawrentians to take a language course, pointing to their passion for Arabic and the connections they have formed with language professors and Arabic-speaking students.
Regarding general education requirements, ethnic studies minor senior Madi Jones said they believe the Dimensions in Diversity and Global Diversity requirements should be filled by a gender or ethnic studies course, not a class adjacent to the discipline. They cited the critical literacy skills that they have developed due to these classes and the importance of their subjects, claiming that the threat to the departments is following a countrywide trend of avoidance of the subjects.
Like Bruce, both Hannel Leech and Zappaterrini agreed that the humanities foster community. As a theatre major, Zappaterrini considered humanities and art to be an expressive outlet. Hannel Leech spoke on the humanities being on two real-world fronts: empathy building in exploring walks of life different from one’s own, including understanding one’s own privilege like Bruce and Murray concurred on, and understanding perspectives within the many different narratives we are presented with in our daily lives. She used the news as an everyday example of understanding conflicting narratives. As she said it, both her English literature major and humanities in general teach not only what is but also “what isn’t.”
Dhunna said that she does not believe everyone understands the value of humanities, and some may be doubtful of the job opportunities it could lead to.
What sort of jobs will these humanities majors pursue, then? Murray said she wants to pursue community outreach and organizing, inspired by a research fellow internship she had over the previous summer. Lang-Smith said that she feels passionate about incorporating her Indigenous identity into her work and wants to be a clinical psychologist or therapist working with Native Americans. Dhunna wants to pursue law school in the future. Kennedy-Logan said she wants to get involved in editing, and Greenland said they want to go into international affairs. Regardless of the avenue, these pursuits are all possible for them thanks to their time spent with the humanities.
One of the first things Zappaterrini spoke about was the historical importance of the arts and the humanities as a means of protesting systemic injustice. Murray, too, emphasized the importance of being able to interpret the information we receive and create meaning from it, which can then be turned into action to facilitate change. Many students involved in this article emphasized the importance of this in their interviews and subsequentially encouraged Lawrentians to become part of the movement towards social change by taking a humanities course. Though taking a class may look like only a small step in the big picture, the students all concurred that engagement with the humanities is invaluable to both starting and continuing conversations around bettering the world for us all, no matter how small the impact may appear.