Letters: The Tribune Editorial Board is correct about the gutting of degree programs at Indiana University

Chicago Tribune

11-07-2025

Thank you for your editorial on the gutting of degree programs at Indiana's public universities ('Indiana University, Ball State and Purdue are gutted without logic or thought,' July 7). As a professor at Indiana University Bloomington as well as an IU parent, it hits close to home. My only quibble is that 'carnage' may underestimate the damage caused by the cuts.
Gov. Mike Braun claimed that streamlining degree offerings 'will help students make more informed decisions about the degree they want to pursue and ensure there is a direct connection between the skills students are gaining through higher education and the skills they need most.' However, the reduction of degree programs was not based on skills: There was no discussion or analysis of the skills taught in any of the programs, nor any identification of 'the skills they need most.' The cuts were by the numbers and on such a rushed schedule that there was no time (or provision) for discussing the relationships linking skills, degrees and jobs.
Nor was there any explanation for the numbers chosen as thresholds for eliminating degree programs. Even worse: The numbers are one-size-fits-all, which means that they apply equally to the large flagship campuses and to the small regional campuses. If IU Bloomington, with more than 46,000 students, cannot meet the thresholds and has to eliminate or consolidate 116 degree programs, and IU Indianapolis (with more than 20,000 students) has to cut 50 programs, how much more will the university's five smaller, regional campuses, whose enrollments are fewer than 5,000 students and which serve many low-income and rural students, be hit?
The reduction of programs is, in effect, a reduction of opportunities that will disproportionately affect students from low-income and rural backgrounds.
Many of the programs being eliminated are housed within liberal arts schools. At IU Bloomington, the motto of the College of Arts & Sciences is: 'Question critically, think logically, communicate clearly, act creatively, live ethically.' My colleagues and I take pride in teaching students transferrable skills that will help them navigate a job market that artificial intelligence is changing by the minute. However, Indiana's Republican-dominated legislature is squelching these skills in the name of promoting 'workforce-ready skills' at the college and high school levels alike.
Younger generations are being prepared to be worker bees — for jobs that are disappearing. In the end, it's not just the students who lose with these cuts. The whole state does.The Tribune Editorial Board believes that, in protesting the Indiana University cuts, it is helping. However, the inaccurate reporting is hurting more than helping. I teach in the Art History Department at Indiana University in Bloomington. Despite what the editorial states, art history is not 'dead' at IU, nor is a commitment to consolidate or merge synonymous with 'dead,' as the editorial implies. Rather, 'consolidate or merge' means precisely what it says. Discussions are underway to consolidate the art history degree with one or more other degree programs. We are very much still in business.
Unfortunately, because of such irresponsible reporting, we are getting queries from across the U.S. and indeed the world that simply assume our demise. Recommendation letter writers think that they no longer need to send requested letters (they do); students believe they are no longer enrolled in their degree program (they are); and so on.
Despite our department being mentioned in the editorial, neither I nor, as far as I know, any of my colleagues were contacted to comment or to confirm or deny the editorial board's claims. Please feel free to contact us in order to bring more accuracy to your reporting.Thank you for your incisive editorial concerning the Indiana Commission for Higher Education (ICHE) destruction of its state university system.
I graduated from Indiana University in 1986. My four years there opened my eyes to other worlds, people and even areas of study I had never heard of before. Had I wished to, I could have studied and received a degree in Uralic and Altaic languages or folklore.
While I did take some philosophy classes, my major was history after I briefly dabbled in political science. You may wonder if anything I learned is directly applicable to my present life. The answer is none and everything. Studying something you are not familiar with may not be useful in your life or your job, but it will change the way you view the world, other people and cultures.
I can safely state that nothing I learned in three years of law school was ever directly applied to my career as a personal injury lawyer, yet the education I received in the alleged 'soft sciences' of history and philosophy is something I use daily in my interpersonal interactions, assessments of situations and people, and evaluations of situations.
The short-sighted destruction of 'nonpractical' degree programs only increases the territorial small-mindedness that universities have attempted to modify for years.
While the ersatz motto of the fictional Faber College in the movie 'Animal House' — 'Knowledge is Good' — is intended tongue-in-cheek, I would argue lack of knowledge is emphatically not good. Not for people, not for society and not for open minds.
Shame on Indiana.I'm writing in response to the July 4 article about paratransit services ('At odds over paratransit services,' July 4) and would like to broaden the topic of the challenges faced by those with disabilities. In 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' Atticus Finch teaches his daughter, Scout, about empathy. 'You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.' In my case, I would ask you to roll around in mine.
I use a wheelchair and have for many years. I applaud the important advances in accessibility over the last 34 years, which we will celebrate on National Disability Independence Day on July 26. There is, however, more work to be done to enable those with physical disabilities to participate fully in society. Many of the barriers are unseen by most people. It's only when you're faced with them that they become clear as day.
From my personal experience, I sometimes find restaurants or other places of business are about 80% there. That's to be commended. However, most people would not drive over a bridge that spanned only 80% across a river.
Here are just a few examples of partial accessibility. I have used a ramp only to find there is no electronic door opener, which prevents entry. Or, if there is an opener, there are other doors within the building that I cannot open. I also find tables and chairs so close together, I am unable to maneuver my wheelchair. Bathrooms can be especially challenging — 'handicap accessible' means more than a grab bar in a stall. I could go on.
I know everyone has good intentions, and nobody creates these problems on purpose. They just need better data.
I have two suggestions: Ask customers with disabilities to provide feedback on their experience at a restaurant or hotel. Better yet, invite people with disabilities to provide input during the design phase of a building. There are people with disabilities who stay home because they find going out too difficult. That's a shame. We can do better.
Moreover, improving accessibility will benefit customers and boost business. It would be a win-win situation. It's time to listen to Atticus.In his letter ('We need AI therapy,' July 6), Slingshot AI co-founder Daniel Cahn makes the case for therapy by artificial intelligence. The problem is that therapy is not solely about saying, 'Do this and don't do that.' The emotional connection between therapist and patient is integral to the process.
AI represents an inherent loss to the patient, as he or she is exploring intimate issues with a machine. One could argue that AI therapy is better than no therapy. I see that in the same light that I see arguments for AI lovers. I can't imagine that either is particularly satisfying.