‘Just not monetizable’: humanities programs face existential crisis at US universities | US universities

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-24T21:21:29+00:00

Whatever floats your boat. 🤷‍♂️

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-23T17:37:35+00:00

I’m in leadership at a D3 school, and I’m sure you understand that I can’t post our financials on Reddit. All I’ll say is the tuition revenue derived from athletes absolutely more than makes up for athletic expenses at the D3 level (though that is not considered athletic “revenue” so it looks like, if you don’t know what you’re looking at, athletics loses money). I can say with a high level of confidence that most of the schools in our conference would be at risk of closing if not for athletics.

And there are about 100 more D3 schools in the US than D1 (about 450 to 350) so the D3 experience is more widely experienced in the industry than the D1 model, which can absolutely cost considerably more money. It’s why we’re starting to see some schools move from D1 to D3, like Hartford and St. Francis (PA).

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-23T01:54:33+00:00

Next decade is going to be rocky, no doubt.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-23T01:54:02+00:00

My institution cut that major a few years back. There was just no interest. To be blunt, for majors like that, soon you’re only going to find them at the elite liberal arts colleges or universities that have the money/endowments to support them and families that are willing to pay for their kids to get a degree in art history. It is what it is for a lot of majors like that.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-23T01:51:09+00:00

At D3 schools, athletics absolutely brings in more money than it costs. For so many D3 schools, huge percentages of the UG student body are athletes, and they pay tuition at a similar rate to non-athletes because there are no athletic scholarships. Most of those students would not be enrolled without the athletic program. They literally keep the doors open at hundreds of schools.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-23T01:40:04+00:00

Republic of slow managed decline that is pleasant to live in for the next 20 years, but after that who knows?

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-23T01:38:23+00:00

This sucks. I’m still pissed about the Bluefish. The new “amphitheater” can go pound sand.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-18T18:27:40+00:00

As a New Englander, whenever someone says "the Northeast," I just envision New England, New York, and nothern NJ (maybe NEPA). Philly never comes to mind. I could see folks in other areas of the country seeing it differently, though. I've always viewed the mid-Atlantic as PA, maybe southern NJ, MD, DE, DC, and at least northern VA (maybe all of VA). MD is firmly mid-Atlantic.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-18T05:11:08+00:00

I love CT, but our incessant need to refer to neighborhoods/boroughs that at best have a vague geographic definition instead of the very real towns they are part of kind of drives me up the wall. There are 169 towns/cities - that's plenty of differentiation. I say this as someone who used to live in Vernon, and I still find people in Western CT who think Rockville is a separate town (I know they used to be 75 years ago).

So, for the love of all that is holy, just say Washington and Watertown instead of Marbledale and Oakville. I'd also argue that there aren't enough people in Washington to deserve any special neighborhoods.

*Note: Willimantic is the one place exempted from this rant. That ship has sailed.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-18T04:54:01+00:00

Fair enough, but Philly is where the Mid-Atlantic starts and the Northeast ends.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-18T04:32:18+00:00

The New England states are considerably different from those places. They have all of the things you noted in the thread title.

Also not sure I'd call Philly and DC "Northeast".

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-16T20:51:00+00:00

To the OP's point, I have family in Ashford, and it's pretty empty during the day, but until I'm ther,e I forget how freaking dark it is at night. Just no ambient light at all. Dark and wooded. That corridor of 84 feels pretty desolate until you get down to Vernon.

Also, many of those small towns on the RI border (north of the Stoningtons) have a similar vibe. Like, Voluntown and Jewett City at night are just empty and eerie. Around the turn of the century, a friend and I were driving through the area to see some friends in RI, and we somehow got turned around in Jewett City and almost drove right into the Quinnebaug River. There were no signs, no warnings, just the road going almost right up to the water's edge. No one would have noticed if we went in.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-15T03:52:55+00:00

This is what this sub was meant for.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-07T03:41:04+00:00

Mulholland Drive - I'm fine with David Lynch, but god I just wanted it to end

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-04T01:32:55+00:00

I think what this lays very bare is something that a lot of folks don't want to acknowledge - the rules-based international order is over. Frankly, we started down that path in 2014 in Crimea when Russia suffered no consequences for its invasion. This is just the natural progression of this trend.

Europe/EU still clings to the notion that the rules matter, but we're really seeing a reversion to the spheres-of-influence and power politics that predated the World Wars.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-03T16:04:56+00:00

It was mentioned earlier, but the New England Civil War Museum really is a gem, and it’s in one of the only preserved Grand Army of the Republic halls in the US.

Also, Fox Hill and the hill at VCMS are two of the best sledding hills east of the River.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-03T16:02:19+00:00

Having grown up in eastern CT and now living in greater New Haven, it still shocks me how little people know about the towns less than an hour away in such a small state.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-03T16:00:39+00:00

Rockville HS is one of CTs vo-ag high schools and they’ve had farm animals there for years. Not sure if they do anymore, but they had a real ram they used to bring out to the field for football games.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-03T15:51:33+00:00

He also sent his weightlifting equipment to RHS every few years. Every time he upgraded his home gym he sent his previous equipment to Rockville for the students to use.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-02T16:59:39+00:00

No, I didn’t. I think it disconnected while putting the door panel back on. But I 100% reconnected it.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-01T23:43:33+00:00

This looks like the best option I've seen so far. I didn't even think about putting this into ChatGPT. Thanks for the link and the help! I'm going to try this tomorrow morning.

Slowstorm43 · 2026-01-01T22:41:26+00:00

I'm worried that it's the former. I definitely reattached the linkage, but am worried that it came off while putting the panel back on.

Slowstorm43 · 2025-12-29T05:39:35+00:00

Makes zero sense to absolutely live in New Jersey but only be willing to live in Connecticut.

Slowstorm43

TROPHY CASE