Although UTM offers many academic possibilities, one glaring omission is a classical languages program. Occasionally, Dr. Norman Lillegard offers elementary Greek, but there are no other classical opportunities.

This lack damages the school’s appeal to the upper-echelon of high school graduates. Many of these students receive a classically intense education, and they cannot continue their studies here or use their experience to fulfill their foreign language requirement like many French, German, and Spanish students do.

Adding a classical languages program would energize the academic environment at UTM. The College of Humanities and Fine Arts would be revitalized. Philosophy students could read the works of Plato, Aristotle, and Aquinas in their original language. English majors could further their world literature exposure by delving into Homer and Cicero.

Headline writers for The Pacer would no longer refer to a female UTM graduate as an alumnus, the Latin distinction for a male graduate, as they did on January 17, 2006, but rather an alumna. Much could be said also for the professional value of a classical languages program. Latin is the language of law and medicine. Quick, think of a bone in your body that doesn’t have a Latin etymology.

Finally, classical language students become remarkable proficient in English. The National Committee for Latin and Greek attributes three out of every five English words to Latin. The inflectional nature of Greek and Latin also demands an extensive knowledge of English grammar, and this demand improves the grammatical abilities of many classical students. Can you imagine the advantage a classical student would have on the GRE?

It is time UTM institute a classical languages program. Such a move would thrust the university into a place of prominence among area colleges.