It’s a pretentious title for a mundane observation. The University of Connecticut is concerned about low enrollment in the following majors:

• Animal Science
• Ornamental Horticulture & Turfgrass Management
• Urban Forestry Arboriculture
• Agriculture & Natural Resources
• Environmental Sciences
• Environmental Studies
• Individualized Major – Agriculture
• Diagnostic Genetic Sciences
• Dietetics
• Medical Laboratory Sciences
• Athletic Training
• Horticulture
• Landscape Architecture
• Ornamental Horticulture
• Sustainable Plant and Soil Systems
• Turfgrass and Soil Science
• Health Care Management
• Real Estate/Urban Economics
• Agricultural Education
• Biology Education
• Chemistry Education
• Earth Science Education
• English Education
• French Education
• General Science Education
• German Language Education
• History Education
• Mandarin Chinese Language Education
• Mathematics Education
• Music Education
• Physics Education
• Spanish Language Education
• Special Education
• Computer Engineering
• Engineering Physics
• Art
• Art History
• Acting
• Design/Technical Theater
• Puppetry
• Theater Studies
• Music
• Music Education in Fine Arts
• African/Africana Studies
• American Studies
• Geoscience
• Engineering Physics
• Environmental Sciences
• Environmental Studies
• Geographic Information Science
• Geography
• Latino and Latin American Studies
• Linguistics/Psychology
• Linguistics/Philosophy
• American Sign Language Studies
• Arabic and Islamic Civ
• Chinese
• Classics/Ancient Medieval Studies
• French
• German
• Italian Literary & Cultural Studies
• Judaic Studies
• Marine Sciences
• Maritime Studies
• Math/Actuarial Science/Finance
• Mathematics/Physics
• Structural Biology/Biophysics
• Philosophy
• Women’s Gender & Sexuality Studies
• Social Work

Admittedly, some of these are very niche areas and haven’t had any students in recent years. But geoscience? Or multiple physics disciplines? Philosophy?

This would seem to be a much deeper problem than enrollment and allocation of resources per se. Many of these programs never have high enrollment. As a biologist, I’m well aware that enrollment in biology is high in no small part because it’s viewed as ‘pre-professional degree’ training (doctors, nurses, etc.). But universities should have programs in these areas, if for no other reason, there are no other institutions that will dedicate themselves to training and scholarship in these areas.

This, not ‘DEI’, is the real crisis our universities face.