UNCG community voices concerns at student-teacher walkout
Hundreds of students attended, including some professors with their classes.
This past week was dubbed “Outrage Week” by many of the students and faculty upset by the impending budget cuts set to affect the upcoming 2014-2015 Academic Year.
On Wednesday students and faculty organized a protest they titled, “Enough is Enough: UNCG Walks Out.”
This protest took place on the EUC lawn and was prefaced by an email sent out to all UNCG students inviting them to join.
One of the student organizers of the event, Emma Troxler, said, “The purpose of this protest is to gather students and faculty together to create a bigger movement and to fight for a better university.”
“While the rec center is a huge problem, it is only the most visible issue,” said Troxler, referring to the proposed $91 million student recreation center that has been met with student protests this year.
“We want to raise awareness about disproportional budget cuts to academics versus athletics and administration, and hopefully the walk out succeeded in gathering attention of students, faculty, and UNCG administration.”
According to budget and planning notes posted on the university’s website, an estimated $12.5 million dollar budget cut will be hitting the university next school year. Eight million dollars will be due to a drop in student enrollment.
The possibility of this budget cut, which could result in a loss of academic programs and faculty members was fuel enough to produce the excitement that took place Wednesday afternoon.
“I’m just mad as hell,” said Alabama Stone, a student who attended the walkout. “I chose UNCG after being accepted into several colleges because of their outstanding academics, because of the opportunity to work with such scholars through our English department and that is no longer relevant to our administration.”
Another student, Courtney Dempsey, came out to support the Deaf studies Department and to show her support against what she understood to be the administration possibly cutting the major. She said that this would cause a “huge rift in the deaf community, because this is a huge segue for deaf and hard of hearing students to come through and go to another school other than Gallaudet [University, a liberal arts university for deaf and hard of hearing students].”
Many of the faculty members present canceled class in order for them and their students to attend.
One of those professors, Larry Lavender of the dance department, said, “I asked students in my choreography process class if they were interested in witnessing the rally, and perhaps participating in it, and they said yes. So with the permission of the dance department head I took them there.”
“I am always interested in supporting the voices of students who are trying to maximize the value of their education.”
Though there were an array of students and faculty members in support of the protest a few students said they disliked the particular method of speaking out.
One of those students, Student Body President Crystal Bayne said, “By encouraging students to walk out of their classes or faculty members canceling their classes so that students can’t attend, students just lost their money.”
“You just paid for your faculty member to protest and for you not to have class today. I think that this is detrimental to a student’s education here at UNCG.”
Another member of the SGA, Chief of Staff Shamira Azlan spoke out against the protest when she said, “I don’t like how it’s making the university look to prospects who are walking through right now. It’s not good when a group of high school students are coming through campus and seeing our school divided.”
Chancellor Brady sent out an email Tuesday night with information on what has been going on behind the scenes. The email gave detailed information about the upcoming budget cuts as well as what she has been doing to address these issues.
“Working together, we will emerge an even stronger university,” wrote Brady.
As the event drew to a close another student Hayden Allred, spoke out near the end of the rally and said, “To all those people who are saying, ‘I’m not there because it’s not going to work.’ That’s exactly why it’s not gonna work.”
Editor-in-Chief Tristan Munchel contributed reporting to this article.
