POV: The Cards are Stacked Against the Humanities Right Now
In this op-ed, CFA Dean Harvey Young writes how the threats currently faced by universities extend beyond the sciences, to the humanities
Photo via Unsplash/Amanda Jones
POV: The Cards are Stacked Against the Humanities Right Now
“We need to remember that the humanities are vital to our understanding of ourselves as individuals, as neighbors in a community, and as citizens within an interconnected world”
This op-ed was written by Harvey Young, Boston University College of Fine Arts Dean, CFA professor of theatre, and College of Arts & Sciences professor of English. The opinion piece was originally published in the Chicago Tribune on March 12, 2025, and re-purposed in BU Today on March 18, 2025.
EXCERPT
“You don’t have the cards right now.” In his now notorious press conference with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, President Donald Trump offered the image of a poker match or, less grand, a game of war. It was characteristically plainspeak from the real estate developer turned politician.
Negotiation and the “art of the deal” drive the president. In fact, those concepts have been gamified by him. Before The Apprentice, there was Trump: The Game—Monopoly-like in style but faster paced and more ruthless. The tagline said it all: “It’s not whether you win or lose, but whether you win.”
Today, it seems like everyone and nearly every institution—witting or not—is a player in a game envisioned by the president. They are assessing their strengths and weaknesses—the metaphorical cards that they hold. And, let’s be honest, some simply don’t have the cards right now.
This is true for colleges and universities as they attend to directives to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, stem antisemitism on campuses, and reduce overhead costs associated with federal research grants. Most reputable universities operate as nonprofits with an aim to serve the public good. The government’s seeming eagerness to reduce, freeze, or cancel grants threatens this core mission.
We collectively need to remember that the humanities are vital to our understanding of ourselves as individuals, as neighbors in a community, and as citizens within an interconnected world.
In the conversations about these governmental directives, the precarity of the humanities is rarely a focus of attention. However, a most dangerous game will arise in which colleges increasingly compelled to hunt for cost savings will begin to target areas beyond the lab.
The humanities are not capable of saving the sciences. This isn’t because of obstinance but rather the exponential difference in budget size. To put this in perspective: the federal government’s threat to cancel $400 million in current funding for Columbia University is significant in that the allocation is the same as the combined annual appropriation for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. At many colleges, the start-up cost for one university scientist can exceed the single-year costs for an entire humanities department.