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Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
National
Gene Lyons

FORGOTTEN HISTORY: Que what s a university without a foreign language - Caught on Camera

Woodburn Hall on West Virginia University downtown campus is shown April, 24, 2015, in Morgantown, W.Va. West Virginia University on Friday, Aug. 11, 2023, recommended the elimination of 9% of the majors offered on its Morgantown campus along with a wide-ranging reduction in faculty to address a $45 million budget shortfall. (AP)

Reading about West Virginia University’s plan to solve a budgetary shortfall by eliminating the study of foreign languages, it occurred to me the entire purpose of a college education has been turned inside out since my undergraduate days.

Back when I enrolled as a freshman at my friendly neighborhood land grant college — Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey — most of us worried about whether we had what it took to be recognized as educated citizens.

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