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The Fate of Humanities at a Lutheran University

The Fate of Humanities at a Lutheran University

Last updated on: May 13, 2024 at 8:52 am by Thomas Albert Howard

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The Fate of Humanities at a Lutheran University 2024-05-13T08:52:25-04:00 Thomas Albert Howard

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Save the Humanities at Valparaiso University

Valparaiso University, where I teach, has been doing some belt-tightening recently. Sadly, some departments–theology, philosophy, German- that have defined this Lutheran University for decades have been put in a “discontinuous process.” This does not necessarily mean that they will be discontinued, but all affected departments must make the case for their ongoing existence and/or seek mergers with other departments. Guiding by departmental memos, the administration will make decisions over the summer. For those of us who cherish the humanities and Valpo’s Christian identity, this is not happy news, yet it is a window into what is taking place at several other small and mid-sized church-related colleges and universities, as schools grapple with cascading crises affecting higher ed. A group calling itself “the friends of Valpo” put together a petition, “Save the Humanities at Valparaiso University,” which you will find below. If your conscience indicates that you should sign it, you should!

On March 1, 2024, the leadership of Valparaiso University announced that nearly 30 undergraduate major, minor and certificate programs, staffed by faculty in over 15 disciplines, had been placed under review for discontinuance. This announcement was made after VU leadership consulted with the rpkGroup, notorious for its role in the gutting of universities across the United States.

Most of the proposed cuts are in humanities disciplines, including several that are absolutely essential to VU’s status as a university and to its Lutheran identity, such as Theology, Philosophy, Music, and languages including German. Faculty in discontinued programs will be stripped of tenure and given a non-renewable contract for AY 2024-25, after which they will either be terminated or offered one-year contracts as needed to teach-out students in these programs, or to serve Gen Ed teaching needs.

It is far from clear that the proposed course of action is consistent with existing University policies or AAUP guidelines regarding the demonstration of financial exigency and revocation of tenure. What is clear is that this constitutes a departure from VU’s mission and its longstanding sense of institutional identity as “a community of learning dedicated to excellence and grounded in the Lutheran tradition of scholarship, freedom, and faith.”

Philip Melanchthon was Martin Luther’s “right-hand man,” and the first systematic theologian of the Reformation. He was also a devoted student of the humanities, and, given his key role in reforming universities after the Reformation, is rightly considered “the founding father of Lutheran higher education.” In his “Preface to Homer,” Melanchthon wrote:

“I consider in my mind these admirable gifts of God, namely the study of literature and of the humanities – and apart from the gospel of Christ this world holds nothing more splendid nor more divine….”[1]

Melanchthon understood that humanistic study is “most conducive” to “arousing one to virtue and for forming the mind,” and hence that it is the the mechanism “by which that part of us that alone deserves the name ‘human,’ that is made in the image of God and for the possession of true and everlasting happiness, was meant to be refined and roused.” “Without this noble teaching,” he said, no one is sufficiently suitable for managing the other arts or for performing great things.”

In the middle decades of the 20th century, President O.P. Kretzmann cast a vision for VU consistent with Melanchthon’s vision for higher education. VU was to be a place where “Athens and Jerusalem” could meet, holding fast to eternal truths about God and humanity, while finding innovative ways of applying them in a changing world. It is this vision to which VU has aspired ever since, shaping its ethos and its graduates.

For most of the ensuing half-century, VU pursued this ideal with great success. But over the last fifteen years or so, a number of factors have driven the institution ever farther from Melanchthon’s vision for humanistic education, and from Kretzmann’s vision for VU. The proposed discontinuances – which include the primary disciplinary avatars of “Athens” (Philosophy) and “Jerusalem” (Theology) – demonstrate that the current leadership has completely lost sight of this vision.

The challenges faced by VU are not unique. They are pervasive in higher education today. But none of VU’s peer institutions are taking such drastic measures, and other universities – such as Purdue, Arizona State, and the University of Washington – are finding creative solutions that have strengthened the humanities while also strengthening enrollments. Given VU’s Lutheran identity, its history, and its heritage, it ought to try to do the same.

Final decisions about program discontinuances will be made after April 30, 2024, so now is the time to voice opposition.

We, the undersigned, call on VU’s President, Jose Padilla, its Provost, Eric Johnson, and its Board of Directors,

to recommit to the vision that previously made VU one of the top regional universities in the Midwest,
to halt their plan to discontinue programs and strip faculty of tenure, and
to work collaboratively with the faculty to address VU’s financial challenges.
***

Signatories may also wish to send an email in support of threatened programs to the following members of VU’s board and upper administration:

E-Mail list: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Administrators: President Jose Padilla, Provost Eric Johnson.

Board Members: David A. Bochnowski, Cristal M. Brisco, Emily Chase, Jeffrey H. Dobbs, Mark H. Duesenberg, Craig Dwight, Susan Jenny Ehr, Carolyn Schlie Femovich, Geoff Gilmore, Louie Gonzalez, Christopher Good, Robert D. Hansen, Jr., Mark P. Helge, Danielle Carter Iddins, Colette J. Irwin-Knott, Bruce R. Laning, Marian J. Moon, Andrew N. Nunemaker, Noe M. Ortega, Christopher Petrini-Poli, Lindsay Roettger, Philip C. Spahn, Jon A. Steinbrecher, Paul A. Strasen, Julie M. Winkler

Here is a link to the original posting on change.org where one can sign.

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