Congratulations to more than 14,500 students who graduated from the Liberal Arts and Sciences College.

A month or two after graduation celebrations come our diplomas, a piece of paper that we’ve been waiting and hoping to get since the start of our journey — small souvenirs for all the hard work and effort we put in for years at a stretch. Now I have a question for all you LAS students out there: How do you feel when the diploma you are awarded comes without the major — that you worked so hard on for four long years — printed?

Well, I was disheartened.

The major not being printed might seem like a trivial issue, but I know of many students who worked very hard who are disheartened to not see their major on the diploma they will most likely hang on their walls, a document that might be their legacy, an accomplishment they might look at for years to come.

The LAS college currently prints majors on diplomas for only those who earn a distinction in their respective departments. However, I think graduating in the major itself is a great accomplishment for a student and they deserve to show the world the coursework they did in college. Having a diploma on the wall that says, for instance, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts and Sciences, does not do justice to the effort and the money the students expended during college to receive an education in their respective major.

I understand the difference between degrees and majors and that the colleges aren’t allowed to give out a degree. For instance, Bachelor of Arts in Economics because economics is a major concentration in the big umbrella of Liberal Arts and not a stand-alone professional degree like nursing, engineering or accounting. However, the least the LAS college can do for their students is to print the concentration on the diploma without restricting it to students who earn a distinction because every student who graduates went through financial, physical or mental challenges and stress to get that one document they will treasure for a lifetime.

Ruchira is a senior in LAS

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