With a mission to stress the importance of arts and humanities in higher education, Reclaim Our UW protesters have trudged through rain and snow to stop the loss of programs at UW-Stevens Point.
That support has not only garnered national recognition, but funding to help alleviate the burden of the potential program cuts.
Helmed by Valerie Landowski, a UW-Stevens Point graduate, the Reclaim Our UW scholarship offers $1,000 to a UW-Stevens Point faculty member and $250 for two students pursuing degrees in the 13 affected majors.
With the help of students, alumni and community members gained the support — and funds — to create a movement to stop programs from being cut. With a surplus of funds at their fingertips, Landowski and other supporters first thought to help university members who have been most affected.
“After the announcement by Chancellor Patterson of how the university would be moving forward with the cuts, we decided the best use of our surplus funds would be to support the students and professors most impacted by the administration’s devastating decision,” she said.
The scholarship was created to aid students and faculty in lieu of financial drawbacks stemming from the university’s $4.5 million deficit. After years of inadequate state funding, which the UW System Board of Regents supported, there is not enough money to fund the programs — nor those individuals working within the department.
Without that support, Landowski noted the inability of rural students to pursue humanities programs since there is no local school able to provide the opportunity.
“This crisis, manufactured by the state legislature and a complicit Board of Regents, risks deciding for thousands of rural students that [want] careers as artists, historians and foreign language teachers are beyond their reach because of their zip code,” Landowski said.
However, students are not the only ones affected by the cuts. Faculty positions are eliminated, resulting in increased workloads and larger class sizes for those still on staff.
Due to this, “more of their ‘free time’ is spent fighting to save their jobs, and the scholarship that brought them there moves to the back burner,” said Lexie Neeley, a UW-Stevens Point graduate and leading Reclaim the UW activist.
Protesters noted faculty who have persistently advocated for these degrees as well as maintain a rigorous curriculum. They insisted funds could not go to the students alone.
“We knew we wanted to support students in disciplines that might be cut, but it was important for us to also show professors in those fields that their work inside and outside the classroom is valuable,” Neeley said.
On Nov. 12, UW-Stevens Point Chancellor Bernie Patterson released a proposal that would eliminate six humanities majors. Since, students and faculty throughout the UW System have called for his resignation.
Neeley was uncertain Patterson would respond publicly to the scholarship’s creation. However, she is hopeful it will encourage administrators to provide support that has been missing from the state.
“I hope it will be meaningful for him and other administrators at UW-Stevens Point and across the UW System to see folks reaching into their own pockets to support our students and faculty when state and local leaders decide they will not,” Neeley said.
Since the cuts were announced, protesters have banded together to revitalize the meaning of higher education. The presence of humanities and social sciences should continue to be offered in order for students beyond large cities to have the opportunity to pursue their dreams, according to Landowski.
“Whether you come from the suburbs of Milwaukee or the northwoods of Wisconsin, students of all ages should have the same opportunities to study the arts and humanities,” she said.
For qualified UW-Stevens Point students and faculty, applications are due by March 31. They will be assessed by student organizers and awarded by April 30. There are currently no plans to offer scholarships in the future, according to Landowski.
