Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Syracuse University’s Academic Strategic Plan, “Leading With Distinction,” commits the university to five areas of “distinctive and aspirational excellence.” One of these areas is “global diversity.”

The plan describes SU as “a leader in global engagement” and “a national leader in international education.”

“The University commits to embedding in all activities the values of internationalization,” the strategic plan states. “The implications of this commitment are significant. Living these values is the responsibility of every member of our campus community and requires a collective effort.”

This strategic plan was adopted in September 2023 and remains in force. Yet last month, the university cut the number of foreign language majors in half as a result of the academic portfolio review. Going forward, students will only be able to major in three European Romance languages: French, Italian and Spanish. The French and Italian Bachelor of Arts programs will consolidate into a rebranded world languages and cultures B.A.

Before the cuts, and despite its professed commitment to being a national leader in international education, SU offered fewer foreign language majors than other private research universities of comparable size and reputation. For example, Washington University offers 11 undergraduate language majors. Tulane University offers 15 and the University of Rochester offers 10. Even Colgate University, with a population of just 3,000 students, and Hamilton College, with 2,000 students, offer nine language majors.

With these new cuts, the gap between SU and our peer institutions has grown larger.

The portfolio review was explicitly “not a cost-cutting exercise” and focused primarily on programs with low student demand, Vice Chancellor and Provost Lois Agnew wrote in a campus-wide email. SU isn’t alone in facing declining enrollment in foreign languages, nor in subjecting language programs to severe cuts. A recent study by the American Council of Trustees and Alumni reported an alarming decline in the study of foreign languages at American colleges and universities: a drop of 59% between 1965 and 2016, followed by a further decline of 17% from 2016 to 2021.

There is no denying that enrollment in some of our language programs is low. Language courses are, after all, small by design. Historically, a lower average class size was seen as a key indicator of academic quality; every student and professor on campus knows that often the most important and meaningful learning happens in smaller classes and seminars.

The strategic plan is correct in emphasizing the importance of global engagement for a diverse society and a globalizing world. The evidence on the value of foreign language study is immense. As the ACTA report states, scientific research shows that foreign language learning has lifelong cognitive benefits, increases tolerance and cultural awareness.

For students looking for a leg up on the job market, multilingual employees are paid more. Knowledge of foreign languages is important for a range of fields that cut across the entire campus, including journalism, business, the health sciences, education and the social sciences. The people of the United States are more linguistically diverse than ever, and this diversity, coupled with globalization, means increasing demand for people with intermediate to advanced foreign language skills.

Given how languages are foundational for advanced work in many humanities and social science fields, as well as in certain professions, investment in foreign language learning is a public good for the entire university and a fundamental attribute of a contemporary research university with global reach and standing.

Languages should be seen not just as distinct and niche areas of study, but as valuable tools for students from across campus, in the same way that knowledge of math and statistics applies across many fields and disciplines.

SU is rightfully proud of select students — more than 25 per year between 2021 and 2025 — who win prestigious awards that involve foreign language knowledge and study, including Fulbright, Boren and Critical Language Scholarships. Yet going forward, an SU student can’t major in any of the U.S. government-designated critical languages. More narrowly, students won’t be able to major in Arabic, Chinese or Russian, three of the six official United Nations languages.

The language majors being closed — Russian, German and Classics — have existed at the university since at least World War II. Russian has been taught for more than 80 years, and Latin for over 150 years. We suspect that German has existed at the university for well over 100 years.

While we value every language and world culture, we question the wisdom of cutting majors in German and Russian, as well as cancelling all courses in Hindi and Turkish, during a time when these world regions are increasing in importance and impact. And the Classics? These are the bedrock of Western civilization; their philosophers taught us to think and question the universe, and their governments warned us of the pitfalls of dictatorship.

The two units we lead — the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics and the Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs — have built a close partnership over the years because of our shared commitment to educating students about the world beyond our borders. Foreign language knowledge has value both for its own sake and for fostering “engaged citizens,” a second pillar of the strategic plan.

“Syracuse University aspires to be a pre-eminent and inclusive student-focused research university, preparing engaged citizens, scholars, and leaders for participation in a changing global society,” the strategic plan states.

It will be difficult for students to “lead with distinction” in an increasingly interconnected yet divided world when they can only choose majors in three European Romance languages.

We believe these cuts to foreign language study are misguided and contrary to the mission of the university. We realize the university faces fiscal challenges. Yet many of our academic peers, and even our much smaller neighbors, have managed to sustain and nurture much more robust foreign language programs than SU’s.

Ultimately, there are some fields of study that are central to what makes an internationally recognized research university what it is. It should be a priority for the entire university, not just one college, to support these programs.

This letter was submitted by Brian Taylor, Director of Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs and Gail Bulman, Chair of Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics. They can be reached at bdtaylor@syr.edu and gabulman@syr.edu.

Published on April 21, 2026 at 11:14 pm