As a fourth-year in the College, I am writing to enlist your support for a very grave issue. Recently there has been an affront against the student body. The Spanish department has abolished the Spanish minor on unreasonable grounds. They use the financial crisis as a reason, but the situation afflicts the entire University and no other department abolished its minor. Second, the Department discriminates against students who pursue Spanish minors as being less valuable than those pursuing majors.

Despite not being either a Spanish minor or major, I expressed my concerns with University administration. I voiced my unease before Student Council on Dec. 1 and plan to work with Academic Affairs. Additionally, I have contacted secret societies to enlist their support. Soon, I will be meeting with Dean Meredith Woo and Prof. María-Inés Lagos to negotiate a better solution. I hope that I may count on your support as well.

The Spanish department Web site gives an unreasonable list of excuses for abolishing the Spanish minor, primarily because it blames the student body for the erasure of the minor. On that Web page, the department claims that it “ha[s] taken this measure because minors compete for courses with majors who need the courses to graduate. Doing a minor is an enriching option for many students, but no one needs a minor to graduate. It might interest you to know that the Director of the Office of Career Services has assured us that minors do not matter to employers.”

While it may be true that the minor competes with courses required of the major, I believe that this is an issue of needing to expand the department to accommodate the students. With regard to our institution’s financial crises, I suggest making use of a model we in the English department follow. English minors compete with majors for courses majors need to graduate. The English department holds large lectures and employs TAs who lead bi-weekly discussion sections so that all students, regardless of their academic label, can have individualized attention.

This suggestion isn’t perfect, but I am willing to negotiate towards a mutually-agreeable solution with the Spanish department to bring back the Spanish Minor.

The Department claims that minors do not matter to employers. I pursued my Astronomy minor for personal enrichment and value the recognition of my work. I will never try to make my minor a selling point on my resume. To have this with me for the entirety of my life does matter, and while I myself do not have a Spanish minor, I can empathize with those who are now unable to be recognized.

Dean Woo, on behalf of President John T. Casteen, III and Provost Arthur Garson, asked Prof. Lagos to contact me. Lagos shared background information and Dean Woo also provided me with informative details regarding the decision. I appreciate their responses to my concerns immensely. Prof. Lagos personally wished that the Web site did not publicize the line regarding the unimportance of the Spanish minor to employers. However, while Prof. Lagos and I agree on the values of exposure to Spanish, she differs from me in that she values the Spanish major over the minor. She wrote in her correspondence, “As long as the funding does not improve, we have to make decisions and establish priorities. Again, the moratorium on the minor is a decision we had to take because of the circumstances and to better serve those students whose major is Spanish.”

I strongly disagree with her decision. First, finances were to blame. Now, the Department blames students and discriminates. Discrimination is not something I tolerate. Minors are being denied equal opportunity access to recognition for their studies.

The Spanish department needs to consider the possibly detrimental results of this action. Denial of recognition for a student’s minor in Spanish may deter students from pursuing Spanish at all. This isn’t about a single line on a transcript or degree. This is about formal acknowledgement for our students’ concentrated efforts in pursuit of the minor.

The Spanish department, though popular, is not one of the top five departments at our institution. Rather, the five largest departments are economics, English, biology, history, and politics, These departments have over 500 majors, and the Spanish department has 350. Both these and the Spanish departments have many minors, yet none of these top five departments have discriminated against their minors. The Spanish department has no unique justification for the abolishment of the minor when the financial crisis afflicts every department across Grounds.

Spanish is an ever-increasing world language. Though students with a Spanish minor may not attain native-like fluency, their course of serious and intentional study must be recognized. The department Web site ironically quotes our founder. In 1787, Thomas Jefferson said, “Spanish. Bestow great attention on this and endeavor to acquire an accurate knowledge of it. Our future connection with Spain and Spanish America will render that language a valuable acquisition.”

Is not the abolishment of the Spanish minor in direct opposition with Jefferson’s ideal? I recognize the financial constraint the department is under, but the crisis affects all departments across Grounds. Every student’s pursuit of study is equally important, valuable, and worthy regardless of one’s label as a minor or a major. I ask our University to recognize the personal and lifelong value of learning, of having a Spanish minor.

I challenge you to join me. Join me as we stand united as one student body. Challenge the Spanish department to seriously re-evaluate its abolition of the Spanish minor which atrociously violates a student’s right to an equal opportunity education at the University.

I look forward to your full support.

Kaity L. Yang is a fourth-year student in the College.