In September 2025, the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS) announced the closing of its graduate programs in translation and interpreting by 2027. For many outside the language-services world, this planned closure may have sounded like a routine institutional restructuring. For those inside it, the news landed as a warning flare. MIIS has long been a cornerstone of professional interpreter training in the United States, supplying skilled language professionals to diplomacy, global health, the courts, and humanitarian work. Its closure signals the loss of a prestigious program, and a deeper transformation in valuing, training, and governing linguistic labor in [...]