Student Assembly

R.25 Supporting the Dutch and Swedish Language Programs

Whereas, the Dutch program aims to provide Cornell students, faculty and staff as well as students from colleges and High Schools of the Upstate New York Finger Lakes Region with skills and knowledge of Dutch and Flemish; *

Whereas, at Cornell, the Swedish program intends to serve as a unifying resource for those on campus and within the local community, who share an interest in Scandinavia; **

Whereas, in the face of mounting debt and a decreased endowment, Cornell’s administration made the decision in April of this year to cut the Dutch and Swedish programs beginning in the 2010–2011 academic year; ***

Whereas, the overall cost of maintaining both the Dutch and Swedish language programs for the 2010–2011 academic year is approximately $93,150;

Whereas, the concerned students of the Dutch Club have successfully raised all but $16,000 of this budget shortfall;

Whereas, Cornell is currently only one of 15 universities to offer Dutch in the U.S. and Canada combined;

Whereas, the university’s public announcement of this budgetary decision occurred mid-semester;

Whereas, as of November 12, 2009, concerned students affiliated with the affected languages have acquired 430 signatures against the elimination of these language programs; ****

Be it therefore resolved, that the SA is against the Department of German Studies’ decision to eliminate the Dutch and Swedish language programs and strongly urges the College of Arts and Sciences to take a more proactive role in seeking additional sources of funding in order to maintain these programs at Cornell;

Be it finally resolved, that the SA will consider financially assisting these language programs if necessary.

Respectfully submitted,

Rammy Salem ‘10
At-Large Representative
Student Assembly President

Matt Danzer ‘12
LGBTQ Representative at-large

Mary Godec ‘11
Cornell Dutch Club President

Kevin Chung ‘11
Cornell Dutch Club Vice President

• * Netherlandic Language and Cultural Studies. “Dutch at Cornell”. http://www.einaudi.cornell.edu/dutch/
• **Language Resource Center. “Swedish at Cornell”. 2009.http://lrc.cornell.edu/swedish/swedish/HiddenDocs/Section4/uploads/File1219878031806/swedishbrochure.pdf
• ***Newkirk, Zachary and Jacob Arem. “Editorial: ‘Any Person, Any Study?’ Language Programs Threatened”. Cornell Progressive. http://rso.cornell.edu/progressive/articles.php?id=129&search=language
• ****http://www.petitiononline.com/CUSOSD/