n Several members of The Spanish Language Specialty Residence were denied entrance to their house next semester based on the fact that they were not taking a Spanish language course or planning to major or minor in Spanish. Several fluent Spanish speakers will not be able to return to the house.

This is due to the fact that the Modern Foreign Language Department wants to make sure the house is occupied with students who are actively studying Spanish. I simply consider that it is an idiotic idea to fill up a specialty house with people who are studying a language, and not only exclude incoming students, but reject students currently living there from returning who actually speak the language. This is harmful to everyone involved.

Not only is it beneficial for people who are learning a language to interact with those who speak it, native speakers also feel comfortable hanging out with others with similar backgrounds, which is often the case with a shared language.

Incoming students studying the language will know they will be able to have their grammar and sentence structure corrected in the context of a conversation with more experienced speakers, and native speakers can socialize with others they have something in common with before even meeting them. As it is, both parties are being hurt by this new arrangement.

Boston University’s housing website clearly stated (up to a few weeks ago) to be eligible to live in these residences, one must either major/minor in the language, show commitment to learning the language by taking a course or speak it fluently.

Now, only people studying the language are allowed. Considering the disadvantage both parties will suffer, perhaps the Modern Foreign Language Department should have taken this basic element of a constructive language environment into consideration before establishing that native speakers are not eligible to live in a language-specialty residence.

Fabiana Cabral

CAS ’10