The University’s decision to suspend the Portuguese Tripos from next year onwards has provoked indignation on an international scale. Diplomatic discussions with the University will begin today, Portuguese Ambassador Antonio Santana Carlos told Varsity.

The Brazilian Embassy expressed “surprise and disappointment” and is set for talks with other Lusophone nations to discuss a co-ordinated response. CUSU President Mark Ferguson said “the University is at risk of becoming involved in a diplomatic incident”. The President of the Instituto Camões, which funds one of the two University Lectureships in Portuguese with a £20,000 grant on behalf of the Portuguese Government, was joined by MML staff and students from across the University in condemning the manner in which the decision was made.

Concerns have been raised both at the secretive nature of departmental negotiations and the increasing vulnerability of smaller language courses at Cambridge. Yesterday morning staff and students of the Spanish and Portuguese Department received an email from Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education Melveena McKendrick informing them of the decision to “suspend Portuguese as a full Tripos language with effect from October 2008” in order “to ensure that the very best use is made of resources”. They had previously received assurances from faculty staff that no such move was imminent.

Fourth year Portuguese students have issued a collective statement attacking the “senseless decision”. “We as students believe [the Pro-Vice-Chancellor’s] statement to be false. This is not re-organisation but phasing out of the world’s fifth language from one of its leading language institutions, without consultation”. The students described the suspension of the Portuguese Tripos as “thoroughly myopic” and promised “not to let it disappear from the University”. Portuguese lecturer Dr Maria Manuel Lisboa is understood to be very upset, and has set up an online petition against the closure which she will submit to Vice-Chancellor Alison Richard. The University expressed a hope in its statement that funding from the Instituto Camões would continue after the suspension. President of the Institute Simonetta Luz Alfonso refused to comment, furiously claiming that the University had made no contact whatsoever on the matter.

The manner in which the decision has been executed has raised alarm among the other small MML departments: Catalan, Dutch, Modern Greek and Neo-Latin. Professor of Modern Greek David Holton said “all four languages are vulnerable”, but was “anxious to do everything possible to ensure the future of his subject”. He called yesterday’s development “very regrettable” and felt that the rationale behind it was “not a matter of student demand but of teaching resources”. He said the restoration of Portuguese to full Tripos status was unlikely.

CUSU President Mark Ferguson was not informed prior to the announcement and criticised this lack of communication as “very disappointing”. A motion will be brought at the first CUSU Council of term to resist the closure and fragmentation of small subjects “at all costs”. Ferguson said the University’s “rationalisation process seems more like Balkanisation”. CUSU Education Officer Jacob Head expressed dismay that despite his status as a member of the General Board of the University he had been entirely unaware of any proposals, fearing that “the General Board and its Education Committee will be asked to approve the actions of the Department and Faculty as a fait accompli and not be able to discuss and debate them in full”.

These concerns come two days after questions were raised at the Senate House over proposals to transform Chairmen of Schools into Head of Schools in a move away from committee-based governance. Under these proposals decision making powers would be devolved to individuals. Dr Stephen Cowley warned of "the greater centralisation of something, certainly influence and possibly power”. Later in the meeting, accusations were made of secrecy over departmental restructuring. A senior member of the Oriental Studies Faculty complained of lack of contact between faculty and Advisory Group over proposals to relocate four posts to the Archaeology Department and two to the History Faculty, and to phase out teaching in South Asian Languages. He said “the papers I saw indicate that a lot of very key decisions, supremely the scrapping of South Asian Studies at Tripos level, were indeed taken secretly and without proper authority”.

Elliot Ross and Lizzie Mitchell