In a letter to leaders at Stony Brook University, State University of New York, the MLA Executive Council expressed deep concern about the proposed cutbacks to several humanities programs at the university. Threatened with dissolution or resizing are the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature and the Department of Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature, and undergraduate majors in theater arts, cinema studies, cultural studies, and comparative literature may be suspended. The Executive Council cited the importance of the humanities for teaching “students to think, create, and problem-solve—abilities students will need in life, including in any job they might hold after college.” The proposed cuts threaten the core educational mission of the university and jeopardize the very excellence Stony Brook claims to support: “It is simply not possible to protect excellence in a university by dissolving excellent departments.” Read the full letter.