Students are hungering for ‘intellectual depth, spiritual formation, and cultural fluency,’ Catholic college says
Belmont Abbey College hopes to meet a “growing demand” for a classical education this fall by introducing new Latin and Greek majors to its institution.
The decision comes at a time when a number of other universities are cutting classical studies programs.
“The majors were designed in direct response to growing demand from students, homeschoolers, and educators seeking serious continuing formation in these languages—not as museum pieces, but as living, spoken tongues that shape thought, prayer, and culture,” Belmont spokesperson Sarah Bolton told The Fix in an email Tuesday.
The private Catholic college in North Carolina anticipates “strong interest” in the new majors, Bolton said.
“There is increasing momentum among young Catholics who want more than just career preparation—they want intellectual depth, spiritual formation, and cultural fluency rooted in the tradition of the Church,” she told The Fix.
The expansion is intended to open new doors for the students, as studying the ancient languages provide “the opportunity to read Plato and Aristotle, the Vulgate, and the Greek and Roman Patristic Fathers in their original language,” she said.
Furthermore, the “foundational expertise in these languages can also prepare students for careers in law and medicine.”
Beyond students, the school hopes to improve the minds of its staff as, “Mastery of these languages not only enables educators to teach the languages themselves, but also equips them to engage ancient texts with the fluency needed to teach history, philosophy, theology, and related disciplines with depth and authority,” Bolton said.
Regarding its Catholic foundation, she said, “Latin and Greek are not niche interests; they are the keys to Scripture, theology, liturgy, and philosophy … they are the very languages in which the Catholic faith first spoke to the world.”
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In a news release, the college underlined this marriage of religion and education, calling its decision to expand the language programs an enhancement of the Catholic Intellectual Tradition.
“At Belmont Abbey College, we strive to educate the whole student by harmonizing faith and reason,” Provost Joseph Wysocki said in the news release.
The expansion is the result of a partnership with the Veterum Sapientia Institute, and includes new Latin and Greek majors and minors available to students online and in-person starting this fall, pending final approval by the college’s accreditor.
The significance of Belmont’s new additions comes as other universities downsize or eliminate their classical programs.
Indiana University Bloomington is cutting its bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD programs in Latin and Greek, according to a June 30 report by the Indiana Commission for Higher Education. The same report shows Ball State University’s Latin major also is being cut.
This follows in the wake of Princeton University’s 2021 decision to drop the Latin and Greek requirement from its classical program.
Purdue University may be soon to follow, as it announced via email in early June that its bachelor’s program in classical studies, which includes Latin and Greek, may be cut due to low enrollment and budget requirements.
However, school officials told The Fix earlier this month that nothing has been finalized yet. The university media relations office did not respond to two follow-up emails asking specifically about cutting Latin and Greek.
The Fix also reached out to the media relations offices at Indiana University Bloomington, and Princeton to ask about their Latin and Greek programs, including the level of student interest, but neither responded.
The cuts to university language programs in recent years have some scholars concerned.
As James Hankins, a history professor at Harvard University, wrote in March 2024 for Minding the Campus: “When I came to Harvard in 1985, I heard the (to me) astonishing boast that it was possible to learn over 150 languages here if you could locate the persons who knew them, who were usually squirreled away somewhere in the bowels of Widener Library. Now that number is 45.”
Contacted by The Fix last week, Hankins said he was not available for a full interview but he believes “that things are far worse now” than they were when he wrote the article.
The Fix also reached out to Keith Dickson, professor of Greek literature at Purdue, as well as Nancy Llewellyn, professor of Latin at Belmont, asking about the value of learning classical languages. No response was received from them or from inquiries made to Charles Campbell, professor of Greek and Latin literature at Purdue, or Cynthia Bannon, professor and department chair of classical studies at Indiana University Bloomington.
MORE: Mirroring trend, West Virginia University slashes language programs
IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: A sunbeam illuminates a Greek column; Brandon Bourdages/Shutterstock