Towson University closes gender studies department after only 11 students enrolled this fall
The program is to be merged with the College of Liberal Arts’ Interdisciplinary Studies along with African American Studies.
The Women and Gender Studies Department reached peak enrollment in 2018, with 38 students enrolled in the major.
Towson University is set to remove the Women’s and Gender Studies Department after only 11 students enrolled in the major for the fall 2026 semester, a record low.
Beginning in 2026, the university will dissolve the standalone Women’s and Gender Studies Department and fold it into the College of Liberal Arts’ Interdisciplinary Studies unit, which also houses similar DEI-related majors and minors including African Studies and Metropolitan Studies.
While the department chair position will be eliminated, the university says students will still be able to pursue the study as a major or minor.
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According to data obtained by Towson’s campus paper, The Towerlight, the department’s peak enrollment was in 2018, with 38 majors.
Campus Reform Higher Education Fellow Rob Jenkins, a professor at Georgia State University, says that Towson’s declining enrollment in its Women’s and Gender Studies Department reflects a broader trend emerging across American campuses.
Jenkins told Campus Reform he believes students’ interest in gender-focused academic programs grew rapidly since gender ideology is heavily a “social media driven trend.” Jenkins believes this trend has since tapered off as “the tide has turned against DEI and transgenderism.”
Jenkins cited economic factors, noting that declining interest in the field may be “market driven” as students recognize the limited career and income opportunities associated with the degree.
Towson’s program became a formal department in 2002, after nearly three decades of available related courses. With the change, the department will return to program status for the first time in over 20 years.
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Jenkins questioned whether the department was ever financially sustainable, stating that it was “politically driven” and likely unable to “carry its own weight.” He added that recent federal crackdown of DEI initiatives may have created what he described as a “permission structure” for universities to reduce low enrollment programs.
“We don’t really feel that the number of majors is the total picture in terms of our value to the university, because we have been extensively involved in teaching core courses,” Cindy Gissendanne, the current department chair said. “We feel like we do our part in terms of educating students around issues of women, you know, women, gender equality, LGBTQ studies, to a broader audience than just majors.”
Campus Reform has contacted Towson University and Cindy Gissendanne for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
