KU administration unwilling to revive Spanish major despite rising numbers in program
By Kara Armstrong
KU administration looks to approve a Spanish moratorium that will prevent students from enrolling in KU’s Spanish major starting in fall 2024. Students who declare the major prior to fall 2024 will be allowed to finish the degree, and the minor will remain at KU for the time being.
An official statement from KU regarding the moratorium, dated Dec. 6, 2023, details plans to retire programs that “have enrollment numbers that fall below what is sustainable for the department and university.” According to the statement, KU will retire unsustainable programs to reinvest funding into other programs or new initiatives.
KU maintains that programs placed into moratorium may be reinstated as majors if these programs, “through innovation, or renewed demand” show “significant increase” in student interest.
In response to the moratorium, the Modern Language Studies department has updated the Spanish major and minor requirements, hoping to increase the number of yearly Spanish graduates.
Currently, the Spanish program consists of approximately 41 Spanish B.A. and B.S.Ed. majors and 69 minors. The Spanish major has its highest enrollment since 2018.
Dr. Christine Núñez, chair of the Modern Language Studies department, hopes the changes to the Spanish major will enable more students to add it as a second major.
“I would like to think that in a perfect world, the administration would care enough about our discipline and our Latino students, for whom this is an important program, that they would reconsider the moratorium if they see we can have success with this new program,” she said.
In addition to Spanish, undergraduate majors in philosophy, German, public administration and secondary education programs directly linked to the language programs were also placed into moratorium.
KU Spanish faculty is not optimistic that the major will be reinstated.
According to Núñez, other programs at KU struggling to meet the required number of 15 graduates are being given the opportunity to revise their programs. The Modern Language Studies department was given no opportunity to revise the Spanish program before the administration called for the moratorium. “We tried to negotiate. We tried to explain what we could do with Spanish and that there is a demand, but it fell on deaf ears,” Núñez said.
Prior to spring 2023, PASSHE required each major program to have six graduates per year. Now, each major program must have 15 graduates yearly to be considered sustainable. While the Spanish program always met the required number of six graduates, they did not meet the increased threshold of 15. KU projects 8-10 Spanish B.A. and B.S.Ed. graduates for the 2023-2024 academic year.
The loss of the Spanish major is particularly distressing given that KU is located between Reading and Allentown, two towns that are highly populated by Latinos.
“Not every student who is Latino is going to want to study Spanish,” said Núñez, “but it is important for them to have the opportunity. It demonstrates the university’s commitment to not just the language but the community.”
Núñez stated that it is important for Latino students to have the option of studying Spanish at KU, because many second-generation Latinos don’t have formal Spanish education. While they may speak Spanish at home, most schools teach only in English.
“If we in education, whether it’s K-12 or higher education, don’t offer the option to study Spanish, it gets lost throughout the generations,” said Núñez. “By not having that option in this area that is so highly concentrated by Latinos, your message is that you don’t care about Spanish being lost in that generation.”
Over 50% of students enrolled in KU’s Spanish program are Latino.
Since the announcement of the moratorium, community members have shown their support for the program. “We got 115 letters from students, from teachers in the field, and from our alumni,” said Núñez. “There were very impressive letters to Dr. Hawkinson explaining why they were opposed, saying ‘please don’t put these programs in moratorium.’ They sent the letters to the administration. They got no response.”
It seems that there is little short-term financial gain to be achieved by getting rid of the major. Currently, the Modern Languages department has only three Spanish faculty, and the same classes that would be needed for the major are still being offered for students to complete the minor.
Although KU still offers the minor, Núñez fears that the long-term goal of the administration is to get rid of the Spanish program entirely. She believes the chances of retired faculty being replaced in a program without a major are very slim.
“Over time, let’s say ten years from now, as Spanish faculty start to retire and don’t get replaced, the administration doesn’t have to cut the minor because it just goes away if they don’t replace the faculty,” she said.
Both the Curriculum Committee of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and University Curriculum Committee voted unanimously against the moratorium, but the administration has maintained that President Hawkinson will approve the moratorium in the coming months.