Everyone at West Virginia University Knew Something Was Up. I Hate That We Were Right.

West Virginia University would like you to believe that its plan to make draconian budget cuts is strictly a financial decision. WVU, West Virginia’s flagship land-grant university, which is located in the small city of Morgantown on the state’s northern border with Pennsylvania, is rushing to eliminate 9 percent of its majors, all foreign language programs, and 16 percent of full-time faculty members in response to a $45 million budget deficit for the fiscal year 2024. How can WVU break enrollment records when nobody wants to be here?” West Virginia recently lost a congressional seat following the 2020 census due to the state’s declining population. Students from West Virginia, those who unquestionably proved to be the most rigorous, inquisitive, and committed peers I met during my undergraduate career, often shared advice for navigating poverty on WVU’s campus with one another. Amid the possibility of further budget cuts, WVU is also requiring all faculty to pledge to “accept and encourage change that is for the greater good” and “avoid conduct that reflects adversely on the image of the University”—a requirement which the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression describes as “unconstitutionally vague.” If the academic offerings subject to dismissal had been absent at WVU in 2017, my first hope would’ve been to leave West Virginia and enroll in a university that authentically valued liberal arts and global preparedness.