In her closing argument, Nussbaum confronted the economic logic that was driving the elimination of humanities programs. If we do not insist on the crucial importance of the humanities and the arts, they will drop away, she said, because they don't make money. But Nussbaum reframed the value proposition entirely. The humanities produce people who are able to see other human beings as equals, and nations that are able to overcome fear and suspicion in favor of sympathetic and reasoned debate. They don't generate profit, but they generate something far more valuable: the conditions for a civilization worth preserving. She urged graduates to take their education with them and fight to keep it alive for others.