EDITOR’S NOTE: LTTEs regarding WVU Academic Transformation
From now until Aug. 31, we will open letters to the editor to WVU alumni and current and former staff and faculty, including those who live out of state, for any who would like to comment on WVU’s Academic Transformation. EMAIL submissions to opinion@dominionpost.com. MAIL submissions to: The Dominion Post, 1251 Earl L. Core Road, Morgantown, WV 26505. INCLUDE your name, hometown and phone number for confirmation. Letters should not exceed 300 words. Out-of-state alumni should include their graduation year and degree. Staff/faculty should include their position and years of service.
To those who chose to cut world languages:
It is safe to say that I was raised on all things WVU. I grew up in Morgantown. My father, mother, sister, brother and I are all WVU alumni. I have rarely been ashamed of my association with this beloved university until now.
I hold three degrees from WVU: a Bachelor of Science in public health; a Bachelor of Arts in world languages, literature and linguistics; and a Master of Social Work.
Meaning no disrespect toward the other departments, it was my classes in world languages that challenged me to think, question, dream and grow the most. I loved my professors and coursework and felt like what I learned every day helped to expand my horizons and elevate my world view.
In my Spanish classes, the overwhelming majority of us were double-majors or dual-degree students. We studied different languages and cultures in addition to studying public health, psychology, political science, business, nursing and so many other academic disciplines. We knew the value that cultural diversity would bring not only to our personal lives, but also to our professions at large.
During my time in college, I also loved reading the annual “campus read.” In 2018, this was “Station Eleven,” a story that follows a traveling theater and music troupe that aims to bring life and community back to a world that has been shattered by a pandemic. I took the university’s selection of this book to mean that WVU would always recognize the value of arts and culture, but as our world has grown more similar to that of “Station Eleven,” it appears that I was wrong.
It is a sad day to be a Mountaineer.
Alexa Harris
Class of 2020 and 2022
Wheeling
To cut creative writing is to cut critical thinking
I am hurt to discover a plan is in place to dissolve several programs that enhance thousands of students’ learning. It is a disappointment to the future learners in our state and a shock to alumni like myself.
I graduated WVU in 2019 with a degree in English, with a focus in creative writing. I chose to attend graduate school at Texas State University and get my M.F.A. in creative writing, and now work as full-time faculty for Texas State and Texas Lutheran University.
I am a first-generation student who discovered in language a space to interact with my upbringing and interrogate the mythology of my home state. Which is why I strongly urge against discontinuing the M.F.A. in creative writing at my alma mater. This decision will deprive students of a critical and creative vocation.
Many outside of the creative writing community do not recognize the necessity and validity of our studies. To write creatively is to engage critically with the world and establish connections between disparate subjects. Poetry is the preservation of culture; it was through verse that histories were given from one generation to the next. The removal of an M.F.A. discourages engagement with this sacred practice and, thus, engagement with our own human history.
It is in creative writing that students learn to write academically. In my composition courses, I teach that research writing is a creative endeavor: The mind must learn to think against the grain to compose extraordinary solutions to everyday problems.
It is in creative writing that students hone their voices and learn to speak in a way that serves them. Creative writing cultivates confidence that can be manifested across disciplines. It is a crime to deny this opportunity to incoming students.
I also imagine many who attend the M.F.A. are out-of-state students, as this was my experience when applying to programs. Removing such attractive programs will keep people from coming here and realizing they would like to stay — and discourage former students from returning.
Kale Hensley
Chapmanville, W.Va.
WVU discontinuing community-focused dept.
Amid West Virginia University’s “transformation,” 32 majors face discontinuation, sparking concerns for affected programs. A trend emerges, including well-known and lesser-known programs with a shared theme.
Listed here are related programs: Bachelor of Science in recreation for recreation, parks and tourism resources; Bachelor of Science for environmental and community planning; master of public administration; Bachelor of Science for landscape architecture; master of landscape architecture; and potentially more. They form the essential but often unnoticed backbone of West Virginia, driving work for a brighter tomorrow.
As a 2022 B.S.L.A. graduate, I’m most familiar with that program. Landscape architecture’s (LA) work often goes unrecognized, yet it’s a regulated profession requiring licensure across all 50 states. Similar to civil engineering but broader in scope, LA addresses socioeconomic and environmental aspects. Generally, state licensure requires an accredited university degree, a period of supervised practice and passing an extensive four-part national licensing exam. Landscape architecture holds federal recognition as a STEM profession.
WVU is the home of the only accredited LA program in West Virginia. Without it, we deny future generations of West Virginia students the chance to partake in hands-on, service-learning education benefiting rural communities. This program collaborates with WVU Extension, Community Development Hub and more, conducting critical work and research for West Virginia communities.
The potential discontinuation of WVU’s landscape architecture program raises concerns about addressing diverse LA projects across the state, from main streets to mine land reclamation.
Landscape architects analyze, investigate and propose solutions on various topics, with the goal of creating a better future. Discontinuing the program risks leaving important work in the hands of out-of-state individuals.
Looking ahead, the potential discontinuation of these five-plus programs jeopardizes essential community-driven work, research and progress. It deprives West Virginia students of the chance to be champions for their state’s rural economic development and protection and leads to the loss of valuable statewide grant opportunities.
Morgan A. Clutter
Raleigh, N.C.
World languages dept. is home away from home
I am devastated by WVU’s proposed closure of World Languages, Literatures and Linguistics (WLLL). As a Venezuelan immigrant who studied Russian as an undergraduate and earned a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology (both at Michigan), I know the value of world languages and literatures in preparing our students to work, live and thrive in an increasingly interconnected world.
But there is another critical and less commented upon value, one that has helped me see myself as part not only of WVU, but also of this state.
Within days of arriving to Morgantown in 2012, I connected with WLLL students, instructors and faculty. WLLL is disproportionately made up of people from all over the world, and since 2012, it has been home to some of my dearest colleagues and friends. This community does more than teach foreign languages, cultures and literatures — already fundamental components of a liberal arts education in the 21st century, especially in an R1 institution — it also teaches many of us here how to make Morgantown a home away from home. This resilient community typically doesn’t take things for granted. It has taught me to value and cherish what is around me, right here in West Virginia.
Losing WLLL not only makes this institution and state a little more parochial. Communities from around the world lose a key space to learn from and amplify the wisdom and history of Appalachia.
María Alejandra Pérez
WVU associate professor of geography
Morgantown
Bring students in; don’t send professors out
I know what it’s like to lose your job when you’ve done nothing wrong.
WVU is getting rid of many majors and laying off wonderful professors. I believe this isn’t the solution.
I’ve been watching the History channel on Sundays recently. Many titans of industry and businesses advertised nationally. WVU needs to concentrate on bringing students in, instead of sending professors out.
Glenn Gallagher
WVU Class of 2001
Morgantown
Landscape architecture fuels recreation economy
Through my time in the landscape architecture program, I have had the opportunity to be a part of many projects in all corners of West Virginia — from Chapmanville to Morgantown to Lewis County to Smithers to Beckley to Durbin. The people of these places were always thankful for the unique skills and knowledge landscape architecture students and their faculty could bring to the region.
Landscape architecture is no easy major — its rigor ensures students learn not only skills like construction, design theory, ecology, grading, plant identification, environmental reclamation, stormwater management and much more, but also how to synthesize all topics to create a design that is both successful and meaningful for underrepresented communities.
Landscape architecture students at WVU are fueling what many state leaders are trying to accomplish: the outdoor recreation economy. Landscape architecture students learn skills, such as GIS, ecological design, grading and much more, that are crucial to design for the outdoor recreation economy. Without this program at WVU, would we not be cutting off the lifeline for West Virginia’s transformation into an outdoor recreation economy?
Some may point to cutting costs, but I recognize that cutting the program would cut out other resources of money the program brings to the institution and state. Some of the WVU Davis College’s most successful supporting alumni are graduates of WVU’s landscape architecture program, thus meaning they bring financial support to the university. Students who graduate from the landscape architecture program continuously find high-paying professional careers. If the program was cut from the university, would these alumni return to contribute donations to a discontinued program? Students come to pursue a professional degree that guarantees high paying, rewarding, purposeful careers when they arrive at WVU to study landscape architecture.
I implore West Virginia University to preserve the landscape architecture program, as it is a vital lifeline to the state of West Virginia, its people and its future.
Belle Irwin
B.S. Landscape Architecture Bachelor of Multidisciplinary Studies
Spring 2024
Barnesville, Ohio
