Graduate students and faculty advocate for full funding
Graduate students and faculty advocate for full funding
On Wednesday, Feb. 28, the University of Connecticut Storrs campus became a scene of activism when multiple organizations, including the Graduate Employee & Postdoc Union (GEU-AUW), the American Association of University Professors UConn Chapter (AAUP), Fossil Fuel Free UConn (FFFU), UConn Revolution Against Rape (RAR), UConn Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and UConn UNCHAIN, all gathered to protest at the Board of Trustees monthly meeting. This was one of the largest student and faculty protests that the university has seen in years, with all groups advocating for the common message to put students first.
The Daily Campus spoke with multiple individuals and groups involved in the protests in order to gauge what students and faculty are demanding of the university. Grace Easterly, graduate history student and president of the GEU-UAW, which represents graduate students and post-doctorate workers at the university, helped organize the Day of Action protests and teach-ins. When asked why the GEU-UAW was protesting, she remarked on the dire consequences that impending budget cuts will have on the university graduate student community.
“The five year fiscal plan could drastically reduce graduate assistantships, eliminate grad programs, and limit the opportunities and resources available for grad students. We know that graduate employees will be the workforce that will feel the brunt of these cuts,” Easterly said. “We’re very concerned by this plan because students should be put first, but this plan puts students last. This plan doesn’t work … the UConn leadership needs to be more transparent and be held accountable.”
The GEU-AUW also coordinated and collaborated with the UConn chapter of the AAUP, which represents all professors and faculty across UConn’s campuses. Sam Sommers, an Assistant Professor of English in Residence at UConn Waterbury, spoke on the goals of the Day of Action — including a university “teach-in” to be organized by UConn faculty and graduate students.
“The UConn Labor Coalition will hold a rally and teach-in to ask the Board of Trustees to partner with our coalition and ask Governor Lamont and the CT legislature to fully fund UConn and UConn Health … At 11 a.m. we will transition to a teach-in with ‘action stations’ in McHugh, where undergrads can learn how UConn’s budget cuts will affect their education and take immediate action by calling on the Board of Trustees to #stopthecuts,” Sommers said.
“We’re very concerned by this plan because students should be put first, but this plan puts students last. This plan doesn’t work … the UConn leadership needs to be more transparent and be held accountable.”
Grace Easterly, graduate history student and president of the GEU-UAW
Easterly expanded by commenting on the importance of this collaboration for protecting students and faculty, framing the issue as primarily a labor, equity and social justice issue rather than just a purely budgetary problem.
“We’re all working together to mobilize opposition to these cuts, calling for transparency, accountability, and action from the Board of Trustees, the legislators, and the Governor to save UConn and protect our jobs and our students,” Easterly said. “Budget cuts to higher ed institutions are a labor issue, a social justice issue, and an equity issue. We care about our students and the impact this plan will have on them when they have to pay more for less.”
Charles White, the department head & distinguished professor of pharmacology, was one of the individuals that participated in this teach-in to inform students about the impending budget cuts. He spoke on why he felt motivated to participate in this protest.
“I am very concerned that the magnitude of these proposed budget reductions will seriously harm a fantastic university that I have dedicated my entire professional life to building. Both of my children are students here so I am personally invested in both sides of the equation. I am here today because I want to do what I can to ensure that the budget cuts are not overly borne by the two indispensable groups on campus, the faculty and the students,” White said.
White continued to discuss what he believed was a failure of the Board of Trustees to understand current higher education and what is actually driving higher costs. He then highlighted how these budget cuts may actually affect students.
“The Governor’s proposed budget shows a poor understanding of higher education and the drivers of our increasing costs. With so many members on the Board of Trustees appointed by the Governor, I worry that they will make decisions related to cost cutting that will drive us backwards as a university,” White said. “The budget cuts are likely to be disproportionately borne by reducing faculty number, slashing TA support, and raising tuition for students. For students this could mean reducing the number of majors, longer wait times to get into key courses which could impact time to graduation, larger class sizes and less TA support for these large classes, less active learning in lieu of more straight lecturing. For faculty, it could be the loss of a job, teaching with less effective methods to fit larger student numbers and giving up major research and public engagement programs that improve the business climate and lives of the citizens throughout the state.”
Eric Schultz, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology, also spoke to his concerns over the current proposed budgets to express regret that his department will not be able to offer the same opportunities it once did after he is gone.
“All my life I have been guided by an ethic of leaving a place in better shape than it was when I arrived. I am dismayed to my core that this is not seemingly possible this time after I have committed so much of my time and effort to this great institution. My department will not be able to fill the vacancy resulting from my retirement for the foreseeable future; the classes I teach will not be taught; the opportunities that I have given hundreds (literally) of undergraduates to do hands-on research in my lab will no longer be available; my absence will certainly mean that students in my field of study will be in larger classes, have less choice of courses, and will have fewer options for authentic experiential education,” Schultz said. “The Day of Action is an effort to signal our desperation to the Board of Trustees, and to inform students who we feel have not been aware of the situation.”
Additionally, Mary Beth Allen, an assistant professor in the department of literature, cultures and languages, and Fiona Somerset, professor of english and co-director of the medieval studies program, both planned to give remarks to the Board of Trustees on Wednesday. When asked what motivated their remarks, Somerset said that this moment had been building since last year.
“Like many faculty, I’ve thought about little else apart from UConn’s budget cuts since I learned about the situation in December (when the administration finally revealed to us the crisis they had created and known about for months, but had done nothing to address). We have been fighting back against plans to cut academic programs that 1) are not the only way out of this situation, and 2) will be immensely destructive to the university’s core mission of educating young people and helping them prepare for careers. I’m writing my remarks early this morning (like many faculty, I do a lot of my writing late at night or very early in the morning), but I’ve been thinking about them for weeks,” Somerset said.
“I am dismayed to my core that this is not seemingly possible this time after I have committed so much of my time and effort to this great institution.”
Eric Schultz, a professor of ecology and evolutionary biology
While Professor Somerset was not able to give her remarks due to the multitude of speakers at the meeting and the time constraints involved, she attached her planned remarks, articulating in part how the proposed cuts would harm students beyond the harm already done to students and faculty over the last few years. She concluded by emphasizing the importance of a vote of no confidence in the current university leadership and the plan to hold such a vote at the next University Senate meeting on Mar. 4.
“Members of the Board of Trustees, I would like to invite you to my classrooms, to my department, to meet my undergraduate and graduate students and talk with us face to face. I think you will find a different reality than the one you are hearing about from the ‘leadership team.’ The reality is that academic programs have already been cut to the bone in recent years. The proposed budget cuts to academic programs amounting to almost 20% over the next five years will be catastrophic. We faculty will not be able to continue with the university’s core mission of providing the young people of this state, and beyond, with a world-class education. We will not be able to maintain our research excellence or our current rankings. These cuts will destroy us,” Somerset said. “At the moment, I have no confidence that this leadership team, that you, are willing and able to do so. I am one of the faculty who are advocating with the Senate for a vote of no confidence in university leadership. So I am asking you. Please. Prove me wrong.”
Professor Allen was able to provide public comment during the meeting. She provided a different perspective from the other professors involved as a relatively new member of the faculty community. As Allen spoke primarily about the rapid decline in education quality and faculty morale, even over the course of just one semester. She then questioned why university leadership had not requested full funding, as the state of Connecticut has recorded multiple surpluses as well as a $3 billion rainy day fund.
“I must tell you that within just one semester of starting this position I no longer see a thriving university. Morale among the workforce has plummeted because we understand that the decisions being made to cut our budgets will affect ourselves and our students for many years to come. We are already forced to limit students’ options (closing programs and course offerings and dramatically increasing class sizes) for the fall of 2024. Our students are losing opportunities, but we can stop this decline if you, our Board of Trustees, take up our call for a permanent increase in state funding for UConn,” Allen said. “Why, in a state with record surpluses and a $3 billion rainy day fund, are UConn leaders asking for anything less than full funding for our state’s flagship University?”
“I must tell you that within just one semester of starting this position I no longer see a thriving university.”
Mary Beth Allen, an assistant professor in the department of literature, cultures and languages
In response to the multiple protests occurring alongside the Board of Trustees meeting, university spokesperson Stephanie Reitz provided university comment on the matter.
“The Board of Trustees and university leaders always appreciate those who take the time to express themselves in writing and in person during the public comment session of the board’s meetings. With more than 42,000 students and employees statewide, the UConn community comprises a wide variety of viewpoints and deep interest in the institution’s well-being.”
The University very much shares the speakers’ concerns about the projected budget deficits for fiscal year 2024-25 and their potential impact on the institution.
UConn’s leaders continue to work closely with members of the General Assembly, the governor’s office and the state Office of Policy & Management, and visit with state leaders at the Capitol — often multiple times per week — to advocate for the necessary resources to help support UConn’s academic and research mission,” Reitz said.
Easterly concluded her remarks by commenting on what broader message she hoped the teach-in and protest would convey to both the university community and the wider state public.
“We want to bring undergrads, staff, faculty, graduate workers, and workers across the university together to learn about these planned budget cuts and how it will affect them. I think a lot of undergraduate students still don’t know the extent of these budget cuts and we want to help raise the alarm so that the administration knows we are all paying attention and they need to put students first,” Easterly said.
Undergraduate students join graduates and faculty to demand change
In addition to the protests conducted by graduate students and faculty for full university funding, a number of undergraduate students and organizations also protested at the Board of Trustees meeting held Wednesday. The most prominent of these organizations were FFFU, UConn SJP, UConn Revolution Against Rape and UConn UNCHAIN. Each organization came to the Board of Trustees meeting to advocate for different demands but all had the same goal of putting students first.
FFFU came to the Board of Trustees to advocate for a more comprehensive sustainability action plan. University administration released its 2024 Sustainability Action Plan on Tuesday, Feb. 27, but did not include many of the previous promises it made last year, such as reaching carbon neutrality by 2030. FFFU released a statement following the release of the plan, stating dismay at the university’s apparent lack of earnestness in pursuing its sustainability goals.
“Although there were issues with the 2021 plan, notably the cost estimation methods for decarbonization, the flagrant disparity between the comprehensive 2021 report and President Maric’s recently published Sustainability Action Plan displays the UConn administration’s lack of earnestness in pursuing sustainability,” read a statement released by FFFU.
FFFU continued in their statement by criticizing the university’s lack of specific reachable goals or benchmarks, specifically how the UConn administration has failed in addressing any of its social justice or environmental violations.
“President Maric signs ‘students first’ in every one of her emails to the UConn community, yet this is far from the truth. Maric’s Sustainability Action Plan is no more than a thinly-veiled attempt to placate student demands for a sustainable future … This Sustainability Action Plan and the UConn administration’s other woefully inadequate ‘efforts’ toward sustainability as of yet are unacceptable and insulting to the UConn community and all others who endure the effects of these social justice and environmental violations,” read the FFFU statement. “The Board of Trustees lies. The UConn Foundation lies. President Radenka Maric lies. And it is us, the students, faculty, and staff, who suffer the consequences.”
“It is important for us as students to keep constant pressure for when they buckle and we are strong; that is our moment to act and make a difference.”
UConn UNCHAIN
UConn RAR also protested at the Board of Trustees meeting, specifically demanding a fix to the university’s blue light system, in which safety posts that should be able to call 911 to the light’s location have been reported as broken, out of order or otherwise not working.
“We wanted to bring attention to one issue at the Board of Trustees meeting today: the blue lights. It’s ironic that they’re such a big selling point for safety on campus but they don’t work half the time. We’re pretty disappointed with the Board’s response. They promise us safety but can’t give us something as simple as a regular maintenance schedule to upkeep the blue lights. It all feels performative and superficial,” said the UConn RAR via statement.
In addition to FFFU and UConn Revolution Against Rape, UConn UCHAIN and UConn SJP also attended the Board of Trustees to protest. UNCHAIN described its demands as a divestment from “genocidal entities,” an end to weapons recruitment in Engineering and CLAS departments as well as a commitment to fully fund the university and its students.
“UNCHAIN is unequivocally opposed to the practices of exploitation, militarism, and imperialism. We demand divestment from genocidal entities like and the aforementioned war profiteers. We demand an end to the recruitment of engineers, scientists, and many other groups into a revolving door of war contracts, exporting imperialism and bombs made with UConn’s research and development. Finally we demand an end to destabilizing and violent austerity measures when deficits from the war machine arise,” said the organization in a statement.
UConn SJP alternatively directed students and faculty to a statement given by the organization at the Board of Trustees meeting’s public comment section;a recording should be released by the university in the coming days.
Finally, undergraduate organizations reflected on what it meant for all of these groups to protest the Board of Trustees through intersectoral collaboration, even though they may not be fighting for the same demands.
“Our whole platform is about giving victims a voice, and part of that means holding UConn accountable. Being ignored and dismissed by the administration is nothing new to us, but there’s strength in numbers. Right now is such a pivotal time for students to come together and support one another. We all have different goals but somehow the same frustrations with UConn,” UConn RAR said in a statement.
“It is important for us as students to keep constant pressure for when they buckle and we are strong; that is our moment to act and make a difference,” said UConn UNCHAIN in a statement.