In an episode of the television comedy Everybody Hates Chris, the titular awkward Brooklyn teenager blows an aptitude exam and is sent to the guidance office. The guidance counselor tells Chris that if he is going to go college he should have a purpose. Otherwise, why bother? As a demonstration, the guidance counselor takes Chris on the bus and asks how many people wished they had the money they spent on college to spend on bills. All raise their hands.Although college is a place to explore and grow in ways that extend beyond pursuing a career, ignoring the future entirely is foolhardy. The perfect situation is to form a sort of bridge between studying for learning's sake and studying for a career's sake. Thus, students should pursue a liberal arts education while also coming out of college with marketable skills. The proposed new Business major allows for that.

There are three specific aspects of the new proposal that are great assets to those who take on the Business major.

To start, the University has designed the Business major with the intention of offering students accreditation by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. This accreditation, along with Brandeis's reputation for rigorous study, will give students an advantage when they search for that first job that will give them the experience for better-paying future jobs. More often than not, students with Bachelor of Arts degrees face difficult job markets. The Business major will give students the ability to edge out the competition. Although a Bachelor's may enrich the soul, it doesn't pay the bills on its own.

Second, the Brandeis Business major aims to produce businesswomen and men of a special caliber. Thanks to exciting thematic electives, including classes on international political economy, economics of the developing world and sustainability and health care policy, students pursuing this major will come out with an innovative view on social problems and their solutions. This critical element of the Business program, along with an emphasis on entrepreneurship, distinguishes Brandeis' outlook on the components of a good businessperson by allowing students to focus not only on the nature of the business profession but also on the ways business interacts with greater society.

The final valuable aspect of the program is its emphasis on case study. Students will learn to analyze cases and how to assign variables and measure and then come up with actionable solutions to problems. The program will emphasize taking on leadership roles and engaging in teamwork. All of this surely provides students with marketable skills when they go for those first interviews after college.

Who says you can't love literature and learn the ways of business at the same time? The proposal for a new Business major provides literature lovers with an opportunity to get a job that pays better than that service job he or she got over the summer ever did. The Brandeis community should embrace this proposal for reasons beyond increasing the admissions pool.