Alyssa Gharmalkar, junior history major, protests Friday on the first floor of Plumb Hall. Students organized a silent sit-in below the president's office to show their support for the 33 faculty who were dismissed at Emporia State. (photo by Sam Bailey)
Students at Emporia State rallied to show their support Friday for the 33 faculty and staff that were dismissed after the Kansas Board of Regents (KBOR) gave the green light.
KBOR is allowing public universities to create justification to terminate faculty and staff, in an effort they say will help university’s finances in the face of declining enrollments and the COVID-19 pandemic. ESU President Ken Hush announced plans to submit the justification to dismiss faculty members to KBOR in a campus-wide email on September 7. KBOR unanimously approved ESU’s justification, the Workforce Management Framework, Wednesday.
Emporia State is the only Kansas university to submit a justification.
“We understand that there is a budget that must be maintained,” said Deb Vasquez, junior art major. “But we also believe in communication and transparency and not planning this a whole year in advance without letting faculty or students know.”
On Thursday, September 15, the day after the justification was approved, ESU began notifying faculty and staff of their terminations. On Friday, students held a peaceful sit-in on the floor directly below Hush’s office in Plumb Hall. They held handmade signs in near silence throughout most of the day.
Douglas Allen, an assistant professor of social sciences, sociology and criminology and one of the terminated faculty, said he drove from his home in Topeka to “support the students supporting us.” He and his 2.5-year-old daughter Ellie sat with protesters.
“Taking away these majors isn’t just taking away somebody’s future position, it’s taking people away who are interested in this campus, people who love this school,” said Eve Treat, freshman secondary education major. “Taking away anything is a detriment to us.”
Around 4 p.m., the protest moved outside Plumb Hall as students waited for Hush to leave his office. Hush instead exited a side door and was driven off campus in a police car, according to a Bulletin reporter who was on the scene.
Later that evening, a local indie punk band formed by ESU students called “Apartment 2b” played a concert in support of faculty in Union Square.
“The teachers that I had shaped me into who I am,” said Zulema Renteria, a 2020 graduate. “I cared so much about the teachers at this school, and to know that the school doesn’t care about the heart of the university, why should I care (about the university)?”
Several attendees voiced their support for ESU faculty.
“The staff are the reason I’m here,” said Derek Jesse, freshman music education major. “I could have gone anywhere else, but I chose to come here because of how all the music faculty remembered me by name after one visit and that they were excited to see me, they were excited to work with me.”
Mason Hart and Sam Bailey contributed to the reporting.
Sarah Spicer advises The Bulletin on stories about Emporia State’s framework to dismiss employees.