Hunter’s administration has indefinitely suspended enrollment in the humanities-based Athena Honors Program.
The Athena Program provides students with a sizable yearly scholarship, designated advisors, and priority registration for classes. Students are admitted as freshmen and remain in a cohort for the entirety of their time at Hunter. The other five specialized Honors Programs – Daedalus (computer science), Roosevelt (public affairs), Muse (visual art and dance), Yalow (pre-med), and Nursing – remain active.
Video posted by Hunter College about the Athena Scholars Program.
“We had to make the difficult decision to pause admissions to the Athena program due to both budget cuts imposed by CUNY and a reduction in private, philanthropic funding for our various programs,” said Eija Ayravainen, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students.
This does not impact current Athena students, who will still receive all of the benefits of the program until they graduate.
Students were not immediately notified, but some saw that Athena had been marked as ‘not accepting applications’ on the Honors Program website.
“I found out because of a group chat,” said Alif Kazi, a second year Athena and Thomas Hunter Scholar. “We asked around and eventually figured out that they were planning on pausing the program, which could lead to deactivating the program permanently.”
Kazi and a group of other Athena Scholars have created a petition to advocate for the preservation of the program, which they see as an important sign of Hunter’s commitment to the humanities.
“I am disappointed that the administration found it necessary to pause the program,” said Jacob Harvey, a senior Athena and Thomas Hunter Scholar. “To cut funding to one of Hunter’s primary humanities tracks is to send the message that in the heart of New York, history, literature, languages, philosophy, Classics, and cultural studies are expendable.”
Ayravainen said that the choice to pause the program does not indicate that the college’s commitment to the humanities is waning.
“We are a liberal arts school with majors and programs in all areas,” she said. “Last year, a significant number of faculty members were hired in the humanities. Additionally, we strongly support our Study Abroad programs which mainly focus on the humanities.”
Still, some Athena scholars see the pausing of the program as a loss for Hunter College.
“The reason I am at Hunter is for the Athena program,” said Ciara Collins, a first year scholar. “Closing a program for incoming Freshman students lowers the incentives for them to come to Hunter.”
Students in the Athena Program emphasize the usefulness of the humanities, even for people interested in other fields.
“You’re learning to talk to people, and you’re learning how to communicate,” said Kazi. “And if you’re cutting programs that focus on communication and on analysis of the past, that takes away a lot from students now.”
The future of the Athena Program remains an open question, leaving students from other cohorts worried about the future of their programs, and if they will soon find themselves under a similar financial strain. Ayravainen explained that the future of Athena will be clearer once the administration has a clearer picture of their funding for next year.
Ayravainen encourages students to use their voices to advocate for the continuation of their programs.
“We would love to hear from students about creative ideas for funding this program in the future. If the decision is made to reinstate the program, we would love to get student feedback on how this program can be improved or enhanced,” she said.
For the current scholars, however, this issue is about more than just the individual impact of the Athena program; it represents the sustained belief in the values the humanities teach in a world that seems increasingly chaotic and uncertain.
“I encourage the administration to consider how the Athena Scholars contribute not just to Hunter College’s community and goals, but to New York City and the world,” said Harvey.
“The future can seem uncertain and money can be tight, but that is precisely the time to take a principled stand for your students, not back down.”
The Envoy 
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