West Virginia University students push back on program and faculty cuts after $45M budget shortfall

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Hundreds of West Virginia University students wearing red T-shirts and bandanas to symbolize their connection to striking coal miners a century ago staged protests Monday against an administration proposal to cut 9% of majors amid a $45 million budget shortfall. Yelling “stop the cuts” with the crowd outside the school’s student union in Morgantown, second-year creative writing masters student Kelly Ward called the plan to eliminate the world languages and dozens of other programs at the state’s flagship university “absurd” and “asinine.” “For me, the elimination of these programs simply means that they are trying to continue with the erasure of Appalachian voices and Appalachian stories,” she said, holding a sign reading “Writers Don’t Forget.” Ward said the school’s administration is just proving to West Virginia natives and Appalachian people that “money is worth more than their stories.” “That is what has been the rhetoric for many, many, many years now, so it’s very, very frustrating to see this,” she said. “Kids are stuck in these rural communities as it is and a lot of us are looking at either the military or college to get us out of here and let us learn something new.” Jennifer Lawrence, a local dance studio owner who graduated with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in French from WVU, said she’s deeply concerned about West Virginia students losing access to liberal arts in publicly-funded education — something already “hard to come by” in the state. “I don’t see how it avoids pushing people out of state, and I think the impact on West Virginia students happens from top to bottom,” she said Monday. “It’s going to make people more isolated and live poorer lives and I think the cruelty is some of the point here.” ___ Raby reported from Charleston, West Virginia.