TOPSHAM — In an effort to reorient itself during the current fiscal difficulties, the University of Southern Maine has decided upon the identity of “metropolitan university.” According to USM’s website, this calls for “a purposeful commitment to the place in which (the university) resides, an abiding engagement and a mutually beneficial relationship with (its) communities and the needs of those communities.”

USM’s elimination of its minor in French North American studies (recently confirmed by the University of Maine System Board of Trustees) and the proposed cutting of the French major, however, demonstrate the opposite intention. Why is USM abandoning Maine’s Franco-Americans?

According to census data, Franco-Americans are one of the state’s largest ethnic groups (20 percent of the population). Even more importantly for USM, of the state’s 300,000 Franco-Americans, the majority live in southern Maine.

The metropolitan areas that the university serves all have significant Franco-American concentrations – especially Lewiston-Auburn and Biddeford-Saco (whose populations are almost majority Franco-American), but also including Gorham, Westbrook and Springvale-Sanford. If USM wants to be a metropolitan university, why doesn’t it choose to engage with the unique and culturally rich community on its doorstep?

We hear a lot from USM’s administrators about the need for a “businesslike” approach to attracting and educating students. Franco-Americans, then, should be a “target market” for USM.

Franco-Americans, as a group, are less likely to hold a college degree than other Mainers, in part because they have not always felt welcome at Maine’s universities. Thirty percent of them have some college education, but have not completed a bachelor’s degree. Earlier this year, the University of Maine System launched an effort to target just this kind of student.

According to a poll conducted by the University of Maine in 2012, the majority of Franco-Americans would like to see more courses in Franco-American studies at Maine’s public universities and would be more likely to attend a university that highlighted Franco-American culture, history and heritage than a school that didn’t. So why isn’t USM working harder to recruit these students by offering the courses that reflect their heritage?

And Franco-Americans should be a resource for the entire state as well. Maine borders two Francophone Canadian provinces, and French is an international business language. It is the second most commonly spoken language in Maine, and the fourth most commonly spoken language in the U.S.

There are millions of French speakers in the Americas alone. Maine and its public schools and universities should be encouraging bilingualism among its population. Why isn’t USM preparing Mainers to compete in the global marketplace by teaching French?

In announcing the cuts Oct. 7, USM Provost Joe McDonnell spoke of the need to consolidate academic programs and encourage interdisciplinarity. Offering a multidisciplinary program of Franco-American studies would be a perfect route to achieving these goals.

USM has a number of excellent resources that could be pooled together – not only the faculty in the French and French North American studies programs, but also the Franco-American Collection at its Lewiston-Auburn College, the population of southern Maine and a variety of artists, writers and organizations dedicated to preserving Franco-American culture.

What’s more, the other universities of the University of Maine System – which also are under financial pressure – each have faculty specializing in the study of Maine’s Franco-Americans. With some leadership and vision, one could easily imagine an inter-university degree program that would make the most of this dispersed expertise. Why doesn’t USM take the opportunity to develop an innovative new approach?

The history and culture of Maine’s Franco-Americans were ignored, or even suppressed, for many years. Despite this, the community remains vibrant and unique. USM will not only be academically poorer for the loss of French and French North American studies, but most likely financially poorer, too, as it shows Franco-American students that their needs are not a priority for the university.

A program of Franco-American studies, or even an inter-university degree, could be a mark of distinction for USM – or it could turn its back on one of the state’s largest ethnic groups. Which path will USM choose?

— Special to the Press Herald