Dear Brandeis CommunityWhen I think of Brandeis University I think of a progressive yet substantive research university. Despite a long list of likes and dislikes it is the reputation of this place that makes me unfraid to assert a proud claim of belonging. However, the latest idea of the administration crosses a line that is simply unacceptable to even push: The dismemberment of our Classical Studies Department.

The very Western thought and way of life that we all enjoy today finds its roots in the ancient societies of Greece and Rome. The literature we herald as classics and the philosophy we hold as noble all comes from these origins. Now, in today's disgustingly politically correct university environment, this is no longer acceptable or meaningful. Instead, individuals like Adam Jaffe (according to last week's article) want to jump on this PC bandwagon and rob Classics of its importance and funding to start pumping money into alternative cultural studies, effectively belittling our true foundations in favor of the "guilty-haves repayment studies."

Although the situation does remain up in the air, I hereby urge each and every Brandeis student to stand behind the Classics Department and its essential role at Brandeis. Jaffe speaks of a "chronic, structural mismatch between our resources and our aspirations." I have just one question in response to this. Sure, there was a large grant given, but why build the new Shapiro Middle East Studies facility if other areas of the university are so starved for cash? And also, why use attracting high school seniors as an excuse for undermining the very basis of any liberal arts institution? Sure, a school is a business, but I'm starting to feel an Enron coming on.

One final thought or I might just ramble forever...There is no money for classics. The entire undergraduate curriculum needs restructuring. We have a defecit. Yet how effected will NEJS be? And again what about that brand new building and the faculty and facilities services that will be sustained within in next to E-Lot? Think about this point good and hard. Where are the priorities of this administration? Apparently they want to follow the example of larger more established schools who have left undergrads by the wayside and gone off in search of cash pots, not the current brand of Brandeis solid undergrad education.