West Virginia University students push back on program and faculty cuts after $45M budget shortfall
West Virginia University students have staged a walkout to protest the proposed elimination of academic programs while showing support for faculty and staff whose jobs are being targeted
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Hundreds of West Virginia University students wearing red T-shirts and bandanas to symbolize their connection to striking coal miners a century ago staged protests Monday against an administration proposal to cut 9% of majors amid a $45 million budget shortfall.
Yelling “stop the cuts" with the crowd outside the school's student union in Morgantown, second-year creative writing masters student Kelly Ward called the plan to eliminate the world languages and dozens of other programs at the state's flagship university “absurd” and “asinine.”
“For me, the elimination of these programs simply means that they are trying to continue with the erasure of Appalachian voices and Appalachian stories,” she said, holding a sign reading «Writers Don’t Forget.»
Ward said the school’s administration is just proving to West Virginia natives and Appalachian people that “money is worth more than their stories.”
“That is what has been the rhetoric for many, many, many years now, so it’s very, very frustrating to see this,” she said. ”I don’t think I can even fully put it into words.”
Earlier this month, the university recommended eliminating 32 majors and 7% of the total faculty in Morgantown, the latter part of $7 million in proposed staffing cuts. The university said the proposed program cuts would represent a total of 434 students, or 2% of total enrollment. Critics have said that figure should be higher because it only counted students whose first major is in one of the affected programs.
“I know this has been an incredibly stressful
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