There are many things here that strike me as backwards, hypocritical, or out of the middle-ages here on campus, but none are as obvious as the absurd push to have 100 percent of students take a study abroad program while at the same time making cutbacks in the language program. I know when I was looking at schools, I had a myriad of qualities for which I was searching. Now, among that winding and varied list lay some basic necessities that hardly needed looking for because every university has them … these include running water, occasional sunshine, fresh air and a language program.
Although I wasn’t able to find a school without any of these, RPI is cutting it dangerously close as they cut German just before I was to register for it last year. I’ve always considered Deutsch to be a language of math and engineering, which makes it’s removal even more ironic.
Apparently the administration at RPI only intends to talk the talk, but to skimp out on walking the walk when it comes to making its students ready for the international playing field they constantly enlighten us on. I know the world is flat, I know that we’ll need to deal with people of all different backgrounds and cultures in the workplace and that we’ll need to be tolerant of different habits and traditions, but is there any better way to learn about a culture than to immerse yourself in it? And how can you possibly immerse yourself in it if you speak in hand-gestures?
When there is such a big push forward with a smart and innovative way to help students experience life abroad—as we see in the new 100 percent study abroad initiative—then it shouldn’t take much thought to at least
