Senate pledges support for Hindi/Urdu

The Tufts Community Union (TCU) Senate passed a resolution at last week's meeting in support of a more permanent Hindi/Urdu program. The resolution called for the administration to show its commitment to the program by moving it out of the Experimental College for next year.

Students and professors say the University needs to hold up a commitment former Vice President Mel Bernstein made three years ago. He said Hindi/Urdu would be implemented into the Arts and Sciences College after a two-year trial run.

"When I was offered this job three years ago, I wondered why Hindi was not treated like French, Spanish, Japanese, or other languages," Professor Sooda Bhatt said. Bhatt is a part-time lecturer in the Ex College and the only Hindi/Urdu professor. "It is so much work for just one person and so many students, and considering this is only a part-time job, I could be getting much more pay for this elsewhere."

Since Bhatt does not have an office, it is hard for students to contact him for extra help or with questions, and he is forced to create extra course material to provide them with adequate sources.

Eager to see the program expand, Bhatt said, "I would be very willing to do full-time work here if I was offered it -- I can work with whatever budget, number of other professors, or variety of courses the administration decides upon."

Senior Pritesh Gandhi is one of the four students who brought the resolution to the Senate. "Every other group gets some part of the curriculum, but we've gotten shit every year," he said. "We're getting tired of being ignored and of the administration not keeping its promises."

Gandhi said the Tufts Association of South Asians (TASA) has been working on this since 1994. It has been met with what he called "empty promises used to allay the organization." Though he acknowledged budgetary issues could play a roll in the delay, he said "serious and prolonged interest" had been demonstrated.

The resolution was submitted by TASA and the South Asian Political Action Committee (SAPAC). It passed by a vote of 23 to one with one abstention.

The resolution suggests that Arts and Sciences Dean Susan Ernst, President Larry Bacow, Ex College Director Robyn Gittleman, and the director of the German, Russian and Asian languages department present a plan to incorporate Hindi/Urdu into the Arts and Sciences College. The language would be integrated for the 2004-2005 school year. The University should also release a written statement underscoring its commitment and dedication to the creation of a "legitimate" Hindi/Urdu program. It urged the awarding of a full time contract to Bhatt. And it recommended that the administration work with the Senate and SAPAC to create a long-term plan for the program.

"We hope this will call more people's attention to the issue and put more pressure on the administration to finally take action," Gandhi said. "Our next step will be to try to set up meetings with language faculty to gather more support."