Alexandra Berardelli ’25

Opinions Editor

Protecting the future of the liberal arts and the humanities is to defend ourselves. At one time, the collective viewed liberal arts as the key to success and freedom, but now we may be threatening our own rights. On April 10th, the McFarland Center hosted the Thomas More Lecture in the Humanities and invited Heather Cox Richardson to give a lecture and facilitate an open conversation with President Vincent D. Rougeau and Provost Elliott Visconsi. Professor Richardson gave a rich, comprehensive lecture on the liberal arts and its humanist nature, commenting on its importance through defining history, highlighting crucial founding moments of Holy Cross, the impending Presidential election, and the educational structures of America today and in the future.

Holy Cross consistently sells itself on being the nation’s only Jesuit liberal arts institution solely for undergraduates. And, in the Jesuit nature, they do this very well. Throughout my tenure as a Holy Cross student, I have grown accustomed to the rhetoric that comes with being a defender of the Humanities, and specifically, as a Classics major, I understand how to deal with the frustration that comes with it. Consequently, I have several thoughts about this lecture and, notably, Professor Richardonson and Holy Cross’ contributions to this conversation within the American educational system. 

Professor Richardson particularly argued for the importance of the liberal arts by associating it with its humanist context. The liberal arts can encapsulate everything: religion, government, history, and arguably most importantly, our rights as human beings. As she continuously claims that the liberal arts attempt to understand the world – which I completely agree with – she adds that the liberal arts offer a freedom of conscience. Then, we can deduce that if we destroy the liberal arts, that is, the freedom of conscience, we will, in turn, destroy all inalienable rights. It is essential to live in a reality and truth-based society that we collectively have come far from. When you put it this way, one would think that the case for the survival of the liberal arts would be all the more vital. 

It is crucial to note that the liberal arts and humanities are not merely shrinking, but they are in a state of crisis. The problem is clear: we have yet to find a balance between providing students with a meaningful education through these disciplines and preparing them for productive careers. All three intellectual leaders acknowledged the need for a solution, but the conversation ended there, leaving the urgency of the issue unresolved. 

Of course, this conversation was not intended to solve the issue of dying disciplines. Still, it seriously considered at what cost students and future world leaders are being devalued in the present education system. In America, students are deprived of a broad range of intellectual skills because the present society is hyper-fixated on the instrumentalization of undergraduate education rather than enrichment. In the simplest and nicest terms, the increasing demand for constant professional outcomes is likened to the advancement of artificial intelligence. We’ve already seen many consequences of AI within the classroom, the workplace, and beyond. And, in my opinion, as a student of the humanities – If AI is taking over our world, why not at the very least let the human brains have something to call their own? This is conscience, truth, and the freedom and duty to understand the world and its people.

Obviously, the cost of education is a leading factor in the instrumentalization of undergraduate education and affects students’ decision to attend colleges and universities—and consequently, turn away from liberal arts institutions; however, this is a systemic issue that needs to be addressed across the nation. There’s truly nothing Holy Cross can do alone; the hole is too deep. 

Even though the Holy Cross administration’s responses supported the humanities and the liberal arts as a whole and claimed they can find a happy medium between intense professionalism and personal enrichment, there must be a choice. Professor Richardson says that America as a nation, especially with the impending election, has to make a choice regarding its educational system because it is failing millions of students: either become a bottom-tier nation or redo the educational system. I support the latter. Theoretically, if the education system is reformed, then the liberal arts would once again prove themselves to be enriching both personally and professionally, as students and workers are seriously lacking in any meaningful enrichment without them. As a student of the humanities and a proponent of the liberal arts, I think institutions like Holy Cross must make a choice and deal with the consequences. 

In the end, how many conversations are we going to have about the future and importance of the humanities? Until it has died? You cannot have everything, but you can at least reevaluate how we could not understand our world or our relationships with one another across the nation or around the world without it. 

Featured Image Courtesy of the University of Tennessee