It has been reported that Rhode Island College looks to cut upwards of 20 liberal arts-based programs and transform one of its prominent liberal arts buildings into a dedicated cybersecurity space. Whether this comes exclusively from budget cuts, an effort to align with Trump-era ideology, or other reasons remains to be determined.
Either way, these changes coincide with the Trump administration’s demands, which have called for defunding universities offering the same kinds of programs RIC is now cutting. At the same time, Rhode Island has left its public college out to dry in recent years, and with decreasing enrollment, the college may be cracking.
This further highlights a deeper problem: Why aren’t we valuing liberal arts majors?
At first thought, liberal arts are easy to dismiss as they aren’t seen as providing a positive monetary value. Yet, without question, they provide the backbone of our country. The way we communicate, down to how we think–we would simply not have a society, let alone an economy, without them.
It feels dystopian to be getting rid of something so crucial in the wake of what many deem as a fascist government takeover. In a sense, Rhode Island—and perhaps the college itself—are kowtowing. By letting their liberal arts degrees fall to the wayside, they chip away at every pillar that holds them up, and inevitably, there won’t be any cracks–it’ll be a complete collapse.
Enrollment at RIC is actually increasing, not decreasing. The administration began the program review process planning on cutting programs regardless. The final “report” contained numerous inaccuracies; all of which faculty attempted to get the administration to correct. Administration refused to do so. Additionally, some actions taken by the administration violated the faculty contract and RI Post-secondary regulations.