SDS condemns U of MN proposed budget cuts to ethnic and gender studies departments
Fight Back News Service is circulating this statement from Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota.
On Thursday, April 20, the Council of Chairs of CLA reached out to SDS in concern about massive budget cuts to ethnic studies, gender and women’s studies departments that the University intends to make. These budget cuts would not only considerably limit the content available to all students, cutting courses and programs, but would also seriously endanger the jobs and livelihoods of faculty in these departments, if not threaten the existence of the departments as a whole.
The cuts include: 50% cut to the American Indian Studies; 30+% cut to German, Nordic, Slavic, & Dutch languages; 30% cut to Chicano and Latino Studies; 27.5% cut to African and African American Studies; 22% cut to Linguistics, and a 10% cut to Gender, Women, and Sexuality Studies.
As a whole, Ethnic studies programs only exist at UMN because of the Morrill Hall Takeover: a Black-led student occupation of Morrill Hall which historically housed the office of the president. Students fought for decades to establish ethnic studies programs and we will not give them up without a fight!
Administration is attempting to place the burden of budget cuts onto American Indian Studies, Chicano and Latino Studies and African American Studies instead of cutting the six figure salaries of top administrators. These budget cuts are also an attempt to erase ethnic studies and gender and women's studies programs altogether and attack the enrollment and rights of Black, Chicano, Latino and Native students at the University. The scale of these budget cuts would not only lead to the removal of many non-tenured faculty and graduate assistants in many of these departments but would further overwork the already overburdened remaining faculty who are disproportionately responsible for doing diversity work for the university.
National SDS has been pointedly combating attacks on ethnic studies, diversity programs, and student cultural centers happening across the country. One way that these attacks materialize is what we see happening in states like Florida and Texas where the existence of DEI programs is being directly threatened on a legislative level. In Tampa, our fellow SDS members were attacked by USF police officers and are facing felony charges and potential expulsion for protesting the financial gutting of the DEI office at USF and demanding administration speak against Governor DeSantis' HB 999 bill attempting to eliminate Black history, ethnic studies, and DEI programs.
We are also seeing these attacks arise in so-called “progressive” states through more subversive budget cuts on the university level that still end up gutting these programs. This can be seen in the massive cuts made by the University of Connecticut in which they are trying to combine all their ethnic departments into one, which severely restricts the resources available to students and staff.
SDS demands an immediate increase in budget and prioritization for the continuation of ethnic studies and GWSS programs. We demand that these cuts be immediately halted, and that any cuts the University makes from their budget be made from the salaries of the overpaid top administrators. Alongside the CLA Council of Chairs, we stand in solidarity with Black, Chicano, Latino, and Native students and faculty and demand that the work of these underfunded departments be seen as vital to the U of MN, just as it is the students that invest their time and money into studying them. We call on students to join the fight, to sign the petition to demand that University administration fully fund these programs, and to stay tuned for further actions as we work with other student groups and unions to fight back against these attacks. Facing these cuts, we – students, staff, and faculty – will not give up, we will not back down, we will unite and fight back!
Defend Ethnic Studies!
Defend Gender and Queer Studies!
Chop From the Top!
Sign the petition to demand that these budget cuts are not allowed to happen: z.umn.edu/StopTheCutsPetition