Letter to the Editor: PSU Will Die Without Humanities
Jonathan Picard
Contributor
3/6/25
My name is Jonathan Picard, and I am a student of the class of 2027 here at Plymouth State University. I recently heard in the most recent article of The Clock, that Plymouth State is planning to cut budgeting for several Arts and Humanities programs and lay-off 30+ faculty and staff by 2026. I am writing this to plainly express my extreme displeasure and anger with these cuts. With the state of New Hampshire already considering cutting arts and history programs from a requirement from high school graduation, I am beyond words at how frustrated and enraged I am with the idea of Plymouth State joining this movement and axing these programs at this institution.
It’s mentioned in the article posted on The Clock that “we have a great program in interdisciplinary studies that gives us the opportunity to think about how we bring these disciplines together to create a new concept we might call the integrated liberal arts,” which is also an excerpt from one of President Birx’s monthly reports to faculty and staff. Further in the article, the programs that would be affected by these changes are listed and they are as follows: English, Communications and Media Studies, Art, Theater, Political Science, and History. President Birx says in his report that we have a great program referred to at Interdisciplinary Studies.
I happen to be a student in IDS, and I would like to tell you which programs are included in my course contract which I created and are necessary and required for me to receive my degree from Plymouth State: English, Communications and Media, and Theatre. You talk about how great the IDS program is and how students are able to create their own programs more fine tuned to their career paths. I would like to know how you plan to encourage students to major in Interdisciplinary Studies when you are defunding these programs, half of which are specific to my field of study and are required for me to graduate.
How am I expected to pay thousands of dollars to you and this school and earn a degree when you are removing the programs that I need to even get that degree in the first place? You talk about this liberal arts program yet you are killing these programs that are essential to liberal arts. You are going to affect the lives of hundreds of students here on campus, take away the chance for them to get a degree and move into their career field, all just to save yourselves a couple of bucks. You’re worried about declining enrollment and your plan to get more students to come is to defund programs and fire more than 30 of your employees? I would like you to tell me how that in any way makes sense. If you’re so worried about students not coming to Plymouth State anymore, you could start investing in not just these programs, but other programs.
You could improve the quality of life for your students by renovating dorms, making them more livable and attractive spaces. You could give clubs and organizations the funds you promised they would have, making them more attractive to potential students who want to be able to socialize with others. Instead of improving upon what already exists here at Plymouth State, and what could be appealing to potential students, you’re instead choosing to destroy it and remove options for those students and ruin the careers of all your students who are currently enrolled. I understand the concern around declining enrollments, but you shouldn’t sacrifice the lives of your current students for the lives of students that could be.
If you do move forward with this new budget, I will drop out of Plymouth State and you will never see another cent from me for as long as I live, and I am certain that there are other students who will be doing the same if you continue with this plan. This is not the way to make Plymouth State a better school, it’s a plan to kill the school.
Jonathan Picard
IDS