Thank You

Claire B.               Avignon, PACA, France 

"It would be a cultural and scientific disaster if a College like Queen's College will close Greek and Latin courses. Department of Classics and Archaeology are important in the definition of identity and history of a country."

Sheila F.               Toronto, Canada              

"An education in classics is basic to an understanding of our language and our ability to communicate."

Lisa C.                   Nanaimo, Canada            

"Knowledge is a valuable pursuit for humanity, not just $"

Heidi L-M.                           Madison, US      

"As a linguist, I appreciate the nuances that knowledge of languages brings to our understanding of our past and appreciation of history."

Jennifer M.         Burlington, Canada         

"The world is in greater need than ever of understanding what has come before in the history of humanity. All subjects are important"

Sharon M.           Cornwall, Canada            

"I give a damn, and have four grandchildren heading to Queens."

Sam E.                   Kingston, Canada            

"I care about quality education!"

Helen M.             Chilliwack, Canada          

"Who will be able to translate ancient manuscripts or question the veracity of translations if Greek and Latin courses are dropped?  At the same times we are trying to reinstate the older Indigenous languages, why would anyone even consider dropping classes in Greek and Latin?"

Roberto O.          Rio de Janeiro, RJ             Brazil    

"I am a Brazilian prof of Mathematics and I can tell you that life without the classics is a life less rich, less interesting, where we're left to navigate the world with no access to age-old wisdom. Not everybody likes the classics, but some of the best people in this world (from Dante to MLK) were pretty fond of them."

Leofranc H-S.     Oxford  UK         

"There is no justification for the closure."

Janet M.              Glasgow, UK      

"Those who do not see the value of education for its own sake are blind. Don't commodify knowledge."

Stephen L.                           Australia             

"Greek and Latin are, and always will be, foundations of our history and culture, and only mastery of them provides genuine access to numerous sources of that history and culture, not only from Classical Antiquity but also throughout the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and into the early modern period, which is an historical period spanning more than 2,000 years - essentially the entirety of so-called "western civilisation". And more, if we also include both the developments of modern scholarship in relation to those languages and their documents and archaeological sources and how knowledge of this history and culture through their original languages (which simply cannot be conveyed or understood in the same way through translations, no matter how good - and somebody still needs to be educated in those languages in order to provide such translations, otherwise not even translations will continue to be made) has continued to influence us even to the present. Denying students and the public such education is a denial of their own history and cultural identity, and that would be unforgivable. On the other hand, it should be asked whether whatever it is assumed would be gained by ending such education opportunities is really a "gain" and a benefit or an advantage at all? Is it? To whom? And what, exactly? This is nothing more than another cost-cutting exercise and a refusal to invest in our own society."

Mairi C.                 Toronto, Canada              

"I am a history professor at the University of Toronto, and I am appalled by short-sighted and mean move to cut the teaching of languages at Queen's. As a first-generation university student, I benefited greatly from the opportunity to study ancient languages from introductory to advanced levels in an undergraduate program. If this opportunity is denied to future Queen's students because of budgetary problems not of their making, not only will their education be diminished, but so will the fields of knowledge to which they would otherwise be able to contribute."

Matt R.                 Kingston, Canada            

"The Provost is causing Queen's to shoot itself in both feet."

Yves R.                  Lévis, Canada    

"Culture is much much more important than economy."

Amanda D.          Niagara on the Lake, Canada      

"Fundamentals of an arts/classics education"

Kathleen M-J.    Pineville, US      

"Abolishing Classics because the admin is trying to run a university like a Macy's is the height of late-stage capitalism, and it must not happen."

Romy M.              Montreal, Canada

"The value and beauty of learning Latin and Ancient Greek are unfortunately so underestimated. Classics are an amazing field of study and research but they cannot survive if their most fundamental elements, the ancient languages, are no longer taught! Classics deserve to have a future and to continue to fascinate people for many generations. Whether in funds or in academic positions, cuts like this are increasingly common and pose a considerable threat to the discipline."

Laurie A.              Edmonton, Canada         

"The corporate managers of universities are cutting out the hearts of these institutions. Small humanities classes are offered at a relatively small cost but provide a great societal good. It is not the courses that should be cut, but the tiers of high-paid administrators who have usurped the roles of faculty."

Robert S.             Victoria, Canada              

"If universities are reduced to churning out employable drones, who then will be able to stand up for reason and democracy at a time when populism and fascism are bent on wiping out gains made over centuries?"

Reem S.                                Egypt    

"It’s not fair"

Arthur H.             US         

"These studies are the foundation of the goal and identity of the university."

Don S.                   Chicago, US       

"The Classics Dept pulls its weight! Latin and Greek has been a cornerstone of the university since its founding!"

Giuseppe C.       Maryville, US     

"I am a strong believer in the benefits of a classical education"

Hannah S.           Toronto, Canada              

"While few students major in Classics and archaeology, courses on Greek myth, Roman history, and the ancient world more broadly attract a lot of students who deserve the opportunity to learn about these topics, even if it's only a handful of electives. From an admin perspective, liberal arts programs are inexpensive to run and a great return on investment. Attacking these programs despite the fact that they run at a surplus is either ideologically-motivated or sheer bad management."

Marco V.                             Switzerland       

"When you choose to cut and close departments of classics you deliberately choose to deprive students and future generations of the basic tools to critically understand the continuous dialogue with Greco-Roman Antiquity which shaped, for good and for bad, modern cultural heritage."

Jan W.                  Brampton, Canada          

"I was fortunate to have studied Latin in high school.  Knowledge of Latin and Greek are invaluable for the appreciation and comprehension of modern languages, medicine, law, science, technology, theology as well as Classics."

Bernd S.               London, Canada               

"The Classics Department at Queen's University is doing a fantastic job. Knowledge of Ancient Greek and Latin are an essential element of the discipline. Depriving enthusiastic undergraduate students of access to these important languages is unfair and would be a major blow to our discipline. At Western University, we regularly get permission to offer intermediate Greek and Latin courses for less than 10 students, because our administration recognizes the fundamental value of this language training for success in our discipline."

Marcello M.       Columbia, US    

"Please reconsider this unjustified decision and support the world-class teaching and research that is being done by the Department of Classics and Archaeology at Queen’s."

Robert C.             Victoria, Canada

                "Classical education is a must have and must be provided. period."

Maria M.             Cortona Ar, Italy              

"Si deve salvare il Department of Classics and Archaeology a Queen's"

Samopriya B.     Carrboro, US     

"I am a mathematical statistician at Simon Fraser University, BC, who also works in historical linguistics, and the field owes much of its internal developments and the insight it yields to questions of history and anthropology to a sound understanding of Classical languages of antiquity like Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit, Hittite, Akkadian, Old Chinese et al. Queen’s University and the Canadian research and educational ecosystem as a whole will be poorer if subjects such as the Classics that do not boast a large population of takers but do attract small crowds of highly motivated students are not offered to those who want to be educated in them. Furthermore, the lack of access to such fields will most affect poorer students who are reliant on the university system, while their rich counterparts are better equipped to acquire the same resources from other, more expensive, sources such as private tutors."

Michael H.          Dollard-des-ormeaux, Canada   

"I earned an MA in the Dept. of Classics in 2002. The great and indomitable Caroline Falkner was my supervisor. But all the professors were of the highest order. This dept. has only grown since I was there...graduating scholars to go on not just to academic careers but those in law and finance and arts. I am deeply upset that the dept. is being threatened this way: o tempore, o mores. You don't budget and then make cuts...you clearly establish your values based on the 'good' and make the economics work. To quote the late great Johnny Clegg: "You're so lonely. You've got it mixed up. You're looking down below for what lies up above." Contact me to talk about why Classics and the Humanities matter and why Queen's has a particularly valuable asset in Classics."

Prof. Graham S.                 Leicester, UK     

"I write as one who travelled to Kingston in 2006 to speak at the Classics Department and saw the array of talent among staff and students. The constellation of subjects that make up Classics require that tuition in ancient Greek and Latin be available in an adequate number of strong university centres worldwide. Not every university offering Classics needs Greek and Latin, but Classics needs SOME teaching of the languages to the highest level. Queen's is one of those top-level providers on whom the subjects depend. The evidence I've seen suggests that the language modules ARE viable. They must not fall victim to a simplistic arithmetical formula imposed without sensitivity to local circumstances. Without training in languages, who is going to produce the ever better editions of poetry and prose that we continually need? Decipher papyri newly discovered in Egypt? Write the rigorous, innovative studies of ancient literature, philosophy, and history, based on accurate and subtle readings of texts, without which Classics—with its pivotal role in Humanities—cannot defend itself, and us, from the malign misuse of the Past that bedevils world politics today, and bring enlightenment about the Past into public discourse, where otherwise there would be darkness and lies?"

Erin G.                  Napanee, Canada           

"I strongly disagree with the decision to make cuts to courses that are so obviously integral to this area of research and to their program.  I'm not sure how else to take this, but it's pretty obvious that they know exactly what they're doing: if they can't cut the Classics and Archaeology Department in one move, they'll do it by cutting it off at the knees as we're seeing here, and then - when Classics says they can't offer their program under these conditions - they'll just cut the entire program, stating that it's "not viable".  The agenda is pretty clear.  This is a small but important (and fiscally responsible) department, and exceptions should absolutely be made in such cases where cuts to course offerings prevent a department from offering their program."

Laura G.               Carleton Place, Canada 

"I have a Classics degree from Queen's and am now a Classics professor at Carleton."

Luisella O.           Birmingham, UK              

"I studied both Latin and Greek to various levels and feel it’s given a richer understanding of other languages and phrases. It must not become an elitist subject, I taught maths to primary kids using both languages to explain shapes and metric system."