I agree, Loran. I hope I didn't lay blame on students in this piece. Tuition is very expensive--I know this personally because I have a daughter in college in DC--and students are making rational choices.

Nor is it only tuition costs. Housing and other costs-of-living continue to rise; healthcare is expensive; job security is rare. Of course students have to think about those things.

I'm lamenting the loss of opportunity for those same students in addition to my imminent loss of what I love. I never expected to create many more professional Classicists. I wanted to create students, perhaps like yourself, who loved a mythology class and gained a different perspective on archetypical or tragic or heroic figures and stories, or the background for the constellations. I hoped for a lawyer who understands the Latin behind all the legal phrases or a banker who feels a little unease because of the Apology of Socrates and his words about wealth. You know, reflective, well-rounded human beings.

Thanks for reading and responding, my friend. I appreciate you.