by Oliver Wilson
May. 10, 2024

On Friday, May 10th a group of high schoolers gathered to protest the new budget cuts announced on Tuesday, May seventh and its subsequent plan to phase out the German program among other decisions like no longer offering Sailing as an official sport.

During lunch at 12:15, the protestors marched in a loop, from the cafeteria to what I presume to be Judd and back two times in an attempt to have their message reach the administrators. This demonstration, however, will prove to be ineffective and the demands of the demonstration are not attuned to the reality of the reasoning for the decisions that were made.

The decisions outlined in the recent email certainly do seem dire, and for some, unacceptable. Additional important context is needed, though. First, the unfortunate fact is that the University of Chicago is in a large amount of debt, a difficult position for any institution. Further, this debt is most likely one which is lended to the school and paid back with interest, meaning that the amount owed is actively increasing, perhaps even compounding. This fast rate of increase is likely the reason for these emergency cuts.

Secondly, the budget cuts are necessary. In fact, I had experience in my Sophomore year attending sailing, one of the sports being cut. Despite the admittedly fun time that I had, the sport was clearly a costly endeavor for the school. On a given day the team would travel to Colombia yacht club in a luxury charter bus, and it was not uncommon that even a fifth of the bus would be full. With a lazy framework for sports travel and low attendance, the cost for upkeep was simply unnecessary. As for the German class, keeping this program was also an unnecessarily large expenditure of finite resources. I don’t have any formal citations, but I am sure that German amongst least popular languages offered. Given this assumption, it is not difficult to understand why an administration might point to the many other language options available for students and make the decision to cut the least popular option, leaving students with plenty of alternatives.

When debt rapidly collects, someone must make the decision to come through and compromise, even when this compromise entails some sacrifice. Ultimately, this cut is one that is responsible, and in the best interest of the rest of the students, ensuring that students at Lab have a long and fruitful education in the many years to come.