Emerson College announced two new majors in Spring 2022: one of them titled Health and Social Change. Described as a “response to perceived gaps in Emerson’s academic offerings,” the major was supposedly a “public health-adjacent that combines elements of public health and communication to help students ‘affect social change through the arts.’” 

Two years later, I find myself in a program that vaguely resembles that eager promise, but with minimal resources and an uncertain future. I’ve learned about social determinants of health, epidemiology, and health advocacy, thanks to some exceptional professors. But affecting social change through the arts is a challenge when you exist in an environment that gives you little guidance.

This week, I found out from an email that my advisor, my undergraduate curriculum coordinator, and my professor—one of the few advocates we had for Health and Social Change—is leaving Emerson at the end of the semester. Then I found out one of my few classmates in my major is transferring to a different school at the end of the semester. I heard through the grapevine that “very important people are meeting this week to decide what to do with the major.” I asked to contribute to the discussion, and I was told neither I nor any of my classmates would be able to participate or even be present. The status of my undergraduate degree, which I invested a large amount of money and time into, is currently unknown.  

For most students, an undergraduate major is the first significant step on a pathway to a career. For Health and Social Change majors, we are starting with an unstable, unpredictable foundation, thanks to Emerson’s lack of support.

The Career Development Center does not have any resources specifically made for Health and Social Change majors on Handshake. I wanted to go to the annual career fair and stand in long lines with the hope of giving a future employer my resume, but no employer in the Bordy was close to relevant to Health and Social Change. We do not have a single organization on campus—nowhere to pursue hands-on experience and professional development. We have an occasional guest speaker and/or event that slightly relates to our field of study. We rarely have a job posting on Workday that aligns with our major. We’re awkwardly shoved into the Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders, even though we’re supposed to be a public health-adjacent major. We had two new first-year students this fall. Two.

Again, I’ve had outstanding professors in Health and Social Change, who have met with me one-on-one for career advising and compiled me personalized internship master lists. But none of this is enough when we exist in a school that barely acknowledges, let alone nurtures, our major. We pay the same amount as VMA and performing arts majors. Where is that money going? Why don’t we have an equivalent to ornate stages and expensive equipment?

My friend who is transferring cited the reason for his departure as “I don’t like feeling invisible in a school I pay for.” My advisor agreed: she’s leaving because she—we—don’t feel valued. That effectively summarizes my feelings about my two years in the program. I know the response of many will be “well, why did you go to Emerson in the first place to study something that’s not film or performing arts?” But why does Emerson host and market our programs if they’re not going to fund or support them? Why did Emerson send me email after email in my freshman year begging me to change to the Health and Social Change major if I somehow should have possessed the knowledge that it would never take off?

We should not be sinking hundreds of thousands of dollars into a school we are unsure is going to have the classes we need to graduate. We should not be sinking hundreds of thousands of dollars into a school with close to no relevant resources given to us. I was fed purple booklets about Emerson’s close-knit support and real-world experience and I sit here as a junior in college dealing with the uncertainty of my future, knowing only that I will be “told as soon as a plan is in place for the major.” I go back to the website that describes the major now, and it details the partnership with the Engagement Lab—how we can collaborate with real organizations. I guess it’s been a while since they’ve updated that website, since I registered for a Health and Social Change class with the Engagement Lab this semester and was told two weeks before classes began that the Engagement Lab was closing down and we had no money and no resources for “partnerships with local organizations.” $56,032 tuition and no money, no organizations, no career opportunities, no support, and only one email mentioning what might happen to us. And definitely none of the “partnering with local clients” that the website claims we do.

I can predict the email I’ll receive soon after the “very important people” are done meeting about my future. I’d like to believe the college will decide to invest time, money, and resources into reviving the young major, but I’m more confident it will decide to “sunset” it. I’d like to suggest rebranding to health communications, but knowing I do not have the opportunity to even speak about my experience, I’m more confident we’ll be discarded without a second thought. I will be able to finish my studies, as I only have two more courses after next semester, but who knows about the first years and the sophomores? Who knows what career support we will receive when we become alumni to a program that no longer exists and barely ever did?

Last week, I received an email that Emerson is planning a new sustainability communications major, and wants to gauge interest. I hope they support the students who elect to enroll in the major and don’t throw them out two years later. 

Avanika Lefcowitz is a junior majoring in Health and Social Change with a minor in Creative Writing.