In the course of my four years here, I have had ample opportunity to hear about the liberal arts vision of Calvin University. From Admitted Student Day to Named Scholarship Dinners to pretty much anytime the provost or president speaks, the idea that Calvin seeks to be an academically excellent, devoutly Christian, liberal arts university seems to infuse any utterance from those trying to sell the idea.

Which is why it has been frankly disappointing to see so little done to support it. Previous administrations were able to at least appear committed to this vision while doing little to further it, largely because of financial crises, an evolving higher education scene and a global pandemic. Budget cuts led to faculty cuts, then degree cuts, then entire program cuts. But there was always a genuine looming threat to the survival or quality of the university behind it, such that when previous leaders only paid lip service to liberal arts ideals, it was easier to believe them. Now I am not so sure.

While many of these exterior circumstances still exist — primarily shifts and cuts in higher education at large — it seems that, especially in this new administration, funding exists to do pretty much whatever the administration wants. A variety of sports teams appears overnight, with promises of accompanying facilities and department-sized coaching staff. Student organizations and campus clubs receive a magically doubled budget (a decision I am not critical of). And the administration now feels comfortable freezing tuition, at least for some time.

Meanwhile, the humanities continue to be ignored. Language departments shrink. Core requirements are reshuffled, such that one can now graduate without ever taking a philosophy class. What I am trying to demonstrate is this: The money exists to embody the liberal arts vision at Calvin, but none of it is going there.

I will admit that the financial status of Calvin is much more complicated than the picture I have painted thus far. Negotiating donors with specific desires or requests, declining admissions and (once again) shifts in higher education broadly all make each financial choice much more consequential, and even if there is plenty of existing funding, there are also plenty of areas the funding needs to go to.

But what this does not justify is the way in which administrations, both new and old, have stood by and watched as the liberal arts have declined. While football teams and various “Schools of X” are exciting steps in Calvin’s future as a university, I wonder what it would be like if our arts programs, or even just the humanities at large, got the same attention as these achievements. Perhaps these programs are declining not only because the public is becoming less interested but also because Calvin has stopped championing them.

Advocating for the humanities requires funding — funding that I believe exists. Though this money may not be immediately available, or the road to acquiring it might be complicated, it is no less essential for being difficult — and it is certainly essential if Calvin is actually interested in holding to its liberal arts vision. That is, really, the job of administration: to advocate for the values that it holds. And if I were to guess what Calvin’s values were based on what this administration has advocated for, I would not say the liberal arts, or really even the humanities at all.

So while it might be easy for me to sling a few words in the school newspaper, chiding the administration for not having bottomless pockets in truly stressful times, my hope is to make it clear that this is not just a matter of making sure money goes where it should. Rather, this is an issue of integrity. Calvin has presented itself as something I no longer think it can claim to be, one that it says it wants to be and that I want it to be. And being that thing requires money, plain and simple. It is the administration’s responsibility to acquire that funding, both for the good of Calvin and for the preservation of its own integrity.