One day last week, I read this depressing and unsurprising summary of the Trump administration’s plan for Higher Ed reform. One bit stood out:
“And these reforms would make it legitimate for colleges and banks to make decisions in part on students’ prospective majors and their likely earnings after graduation, he said.
‘If you are going to study 16th-century French art, more power to you. I support the arts,’ Clovis said. ‘But you are not going to get a job.’”
I almost burst into tears at work when I read this quote. Literature – fine arts – philosophy – all undoubtedly on the lowest rungs of the Trump administration’s Ladder of Societal Usefulness. But they are what make up our history, our stories, and our passions.
As a theater major, I feel best equipped to talk about the fine arts aspect of our education, which has been experiencing a slow death by a thousand paper cuts over the past decade. I fear that a Trump presidency, and a government fallen to Republican rule without checks or balances, could kill arts education forever.
And on that depressing note, I will write more tomorrow.