Potential cuts to the East Asian Program may cause some students to rethink Witt.
According to the Educational Policy Committee, the East Asian program is experiencing a rapid change due to budget cuts. The students can still self-declare. However, if the program is going away, they won’t even be able to do that.
Sophomore Sierra Mazurowski, a student in the program, expressed her views on why she is considering transferring:
“I am highly considering transferring if the program is eliminated; the reason I came to Witt was because they had Japanese,” Mazurowski said. “My high school Japanese teacher went here as well, so I thought it had to be a good program.”
Another student from the program, junior Kyle Logan, studied abroad in Japan last semester, and gave his opinion on the cut of the program: “Wittenberg is yet again sacrificing their academic programs to offset costs brought upon by administrative,” Logan said. “It kind of hits home because it’s affecting the Japanese program, a department that is near and dear to my heart.”
Sophomore Cheyenne Baughman, a student currently enrolled in a Japanese class, said Wittenberg is following its mission statement about the campus having global citizenship.
An intended Japanese and East Asian Studies major, sophomore Jasmine Rodriguez, also expressed her concern with the changes:
“It makes me furious that they would consider cutting these programs,” Rodriguez said. “It’s really unfair that the professors they would be cutting are primarily women of color.”
Mazurowski said she doesn’t think it was a well-thought out decision, but continues to explain the importance of why it should stay at Wittenberg:
“I feel that language gives you a better prospective on the world; it should be important to want to learn,” Mazurowski said. “What does that say about how we view other countries?”
Logan also discussed why he will not support Wittenberg if the program is cut.
“If Witt discontinues this department, then they can skip my name on the alumni list when they need money years down the road,” Logan said.
