In reading the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences’ proposals from the Blue Sky Taskforce, I find myself a bit confused and frustrated.Though the multiple proposals have different suggestions for cutting the budget, one common theme permeates them equally: Iowa State does not value social sciences or humanities.

I wish I could say this surprised me, but in honesty, the Blue Sky recommendations just reinforced the trends of cutting social sciences and humanities in the past few years. We all remember the crippling cuts to women’s studies and sociology. We saw the English department forced to give up their phones. Now, we have our own Dean of LAS entertaining proposals to cut political science, anthropology and sociology further, to the point where they do not exist as autonomous programs any longer.

We all know that Iowa State University of Science and Technology loves, well, science and technology. Let’s face it; science and technology bring in millions of state and federal research dollars every year. It allows us to build state-of-the-art facilities and boast of our advancements across the country and around the world. What our students and researchers in the fields of science, engineering and technology are accomplishing deserves the accolades they receive, and I do not wish to take that away from them. However, it is the job of our university leaders to provide equitable opportunities for all students admitted to Iowa State.

Iowa State wants to continue increasing enrollment while dismantling the social sciences and humanities, and frankly, they can’t have it both ways. Students in the humanities, social sciences, education, design, veterinary medicine and human sciences deserve to receive just as high quality of an education as our peers in engineering, physics and statistics, and it is time that our university administrators make up their mind: Either regard us with the same dignity and respect as other colleges and majors or just say upfront that your vision for Iowa State is to focus solely on science and technology.

None of us could imagine President Geoffroy sitting idly by if the College of Engineering worked to make an interdisciplinary bachelors or doctorate of engineering, eliminating the computer, materials and aerospace engineering departments. With that said, it’s not right for him to allow the Blue Sky proposals to go forth. I implore President Geoffroy and Dean Whiteford to be leaders for the social sciences and humanities, showing they are committed to more than just money, but rather, concerned with the quality of education received by all Cyclones.

It’s true that the lowly social sciences and humanities don’t pad the pockets of the ISU coffers, but they provide something much more valuable. They offer an understanding of how the world works, strive to progress past the status quo, and advance our ability to communicate with and understand one another. It’s time for Iowa State to take a stand for equitable education and opportunities for all students. To the distinguished president of Iowa State and dean of LAS, I say this: It’s time for leadership.