Houghton has been an influential place for me, and I’m sure many others can say the same. It’s not perfect, but I have an education that I can be proud of. While the community members, spiritual life activities, and athletics have all been apart of my “Houghton experience,” the classes and professors have been fundamental.
These courses taught me how to learn, not what to learn. Isn’t this what a liberal arts education is all about? It was this commitment to a holistic education and the passion of the faculty members that drew me to Houghton in the first place, yet now I am feeling the rumblings of change. In my four years at Houghton, I have seen five (soon to be seven) professors in my departments leave or retire, and only one of them replaced.
Change is not necessarily a bad thing. It is hard, no doubt, but there are beautiful discoveries and innovations with change. There are also terrible losses and destruction that come with change. Perhaps we need to reconsider the flux in tides when core values and guiding principles are at stake. To be honest, I wouldn’t recommend Houghton to prospective students based on the direction it is now going.
This realization is not an easy one to come to. True, all of my departments are undergoing some type of downsizing (perhaps even removal), yet this is not what sparks my assertion. Coming from a humanities background, I do not simply want to blame it on the folks in Paine. I also don’t want to fight against the tide of technology as online classes are on the rise. As a pole vaulter who benefited immensely from its construction, I also don’t want to give into the easy bashing of KPAC (although it does seem to be a representation of where our priorities lie). No, I think we need to pause and look closely at the changes that are taking place and ask ourselves if this is what we want. What will Houghton look like ten years from now if it continues on this track of losing crucial faculty members without filling the gaps?
I’ve only been gone for a year, and already I’ve noticed a change. After studying abroad for the Spring and Fall 2016 semesters, I was excited to return to Houghton and the caliber of classes that it offered. Yet upon looking at the Spring 2017 course offering, I was disappointed. There seemed to be only a handful of courses offered in my departments or areas of interest. Additionally, the number of students in my classes has increased from an average of 10 to 12 people to 40 to 50 people. What happened to the 13:1 student-faculty ratio Houghton boasted when I was a prospective?
I was hoping to end my Houghton career with discussion-filled classes that would help me digest the many questions I returned home with after my time abroad in Nepal and India. Instead, I am disappointed, both for myself and for those to come after me.
I know there are people on campus from all disciplines that came to Houghton for similar reasons that I did, and I assume there will be more students to come based on the sort of education it has offered. Yet we must ask ourselves, what kind of education is this? Is it one in which faculty members encourage questions, foster class discussion and engagement with difficult material, and care deeply about the material and the students? Is it one that inspires students to be involved and committed to their classes, education, and overall development? Is it one that sets high, yet achievable, expectations for students and faculty alike, so that we may never get comfortable in our knowledge? Is it one that nurtures relationships that go beyond the classroom and graduation? An old Maori proverb says, He aha te mea nui o te au? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. What is the most important thing in the world? It’s the people, it’s the people, it’s the people. We need to come together as a community of students, faculty, and staff and reassess our priorities. Are we placing emphasis on making cuts and boosting finances, or are we remembering the people who make us great?