A Catholic university founded by religious sisters is moving to eliminate several humanities majors, including theology and philosophy, citing consistently low enrollment and graduation rates in those fields.
As first reported by the news site ARLnow, President Irma Becerra said Marymount University in Arlington will eliminate bachelor’s degrees in theology and religious studies, philosophy, mathematics, art, history, sociology, English, economics and secondary education, as well as a master’s program in English and the humanities. The university was founded in 1950 by the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary sisters as a two-year women’s college and has since grown to a coed university.
“Marymount will reallocate resources from those programs to others that better serve our students and reflect their interests,” the university said in a statement. “It’s important to note that current Marymount students in those programs are not affected and their required coursework will be provided without disruption as they complete their degrees. Also, while these subjects will no longer be offered as majors, the coursework — particularly in the humanities — is central to our mission and identity as a Catholic university and will remain part of Marymount’s core curriculum.”
The board of trustees voted 2o-0 in favor of the proposal Feb. 24. That same day the university released a statement:
“Today, the Marymount University Board of Trustees approved a faculty-led and administration-supported proposal to eliminate nine undergraduate majors and one graduate program that were no longer serving Marymount students. The impacted majors are rarely selected by Marymount students and, in fact, have only graduated a handful of students in the past decade. This decision reflects not only our students’ needs, but our responsibility to prepare them for the fulfilling, in-demand careers of the future. While Marymount students will still be required to study these subject areas as part of our core curriculum, they will no longer be offered as majors.
“Marymount will always be dedicated to the education of the whole person. Every one of these foundational subjects remain part of our core curriculum, which supports our mission and Catholic identity. All University programs will continue to be grounded in the liberal arts and the Marymount University Board, President and Cabinet remain committed to continuously improving the student experience.”
Two of the degrees that are getting cut, a bachelor’s in secondary education and a bachelor’s in theology and religious studies, currently have no students in the program, according to the university. Marymount is keeping a bachelor of science in economics, a master’s in secondary education and a bachelor’s in elementary education as well as special education.
Many faculty and alumni are upset by the change, and some 1,500 have signed a petition in protest.
Holly Karapetkova, an English professor and the poet laureate of Arlington County, said she first chose to work at Marymount because of its emphasis on the humanities. “Especially the theology and religious studies program — to cut that program from a Catholic school is, I don’t even have words for it,” she said.
Karapetkova said it isn’t clear to the faculty how the change will benefit the university financially, as many of the classes are part of the school’s core curriculum. “The courses will still be offered, we just won’t have those majors on campus,” she said. “Those students will go elsewhere.”
Ariane Economos, director of the School of Humanities at Marymount, is worried about the repercussions this will have on other universities. “Should the program closures be successful, Marymount will be presented as a ‘success story’ to admins at other universities, and as a model and ‘road map’ of how the humanities can be cut at private universities, even in opposition to shared governance,” she said.
Chesney Allgood, a social studies teacher at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, graduated from Marymount with a degree in history in 2015. “I went to this school because it was a liberal arts school, a Catholic university that focuses on teaching the whole person,” she said. “There were about 30 of us at the time but it was a pretty vibrant community, very strong public history program. It really stinks that it’s just getting the boot.”
This story was updated.
