St. Norbert College students stage walkout, protesting recent cuts

DE PERE — Over 70 St. Norbert College students staged a walkout Wednesday to protest recent cuts and layoffs, gathering outside the college's Main Hall and president's office chanting "Students united, we'll never be divided."

The college announced 41 layoffs last fall,. Spokesperson Mike Counter later said that number was actually 35 positions.

Earlier in March, another 12 non-tenured faculty were cut. At the same time, St. Norbert announced cuts to retiree health benefits and changes to academic programs. The college is examining which programs to invest in and which to cut, while adding offerings like engineering and physics.

The cuts come as the college looks to shore up a structural deficit. Combined, the fiscal year 2024 and 2025 deficits total about $9.2 million, according to Michael Marsden, the interim vice president for academic affairs.

Students call for better transparency from St. Norbert College leaders

Students at Wednesday's protest called for student and faculty input in decisions and greater transparency from the college's leadership.

Lucia Sanchez, a senior at the college, said decisions were made without taking students into consideration. They were protesting because they care about the college.

"Essentially, we want to come out here as a reaction to the decisions that have been made as a way to show that we care, to stand in solidarity with the professors that can no longer say something," Sanchez said.

Junior Brooklyn Filtzkowski said she's considered transferring because of the lack of communication.

"Communication has never been proactive. It's only been reactive thus far by the college," she said.

At the walkout, students wrote to college leadership detailing how the recent cuts have affected them, leaving their notes in a box outside the Main Hall.

The college held a student town hall meeting Tuesday for two hours to answer questions about the recent cuts. About 250 students attended. Filtzkowski said that some financial questions were answered, but it felt like it was for show.

"It definitely, from a student perspective, feels like an aspect of show only because the only town halls that have been called have been in response to student dissent," she said. "They've never been an actual effort to proactively be transparent with students."

Filtzkowski said she's concerned about the consequences of speaking out.

"I've been very, very worried about retribution," she said. "... I am worried about facing consequences for (taking) action."

Earl D'Souza, a sophomore, said he understands why the college is making cuts but transparency is the primary issue.

"I felt the need to stand with the student body and expressing our need for greater transparency from the administration and our demand for the culture of this college to change to be more in line with the value of communio," he said.

Communio, Latin for communion, is a key pillar of the college's mission: community living grounded in personal growth, according to St. Nobert's website.

D'Souza was affected by the cuts last fall when the director of multicultural student services, Bridgit Martin, was laid off.

"Cutting her has sort of made students of diversity feel like they've been put on the back burner in favor of more important endeavors," he said.

Students also said professor Jaime Edwards was recently placed on leave without explanation. Some held signs asking where he is. Filtzkowski and D'Souza suspect he was placed on leave because of his candor about the college's cuts.

Counter said the college won't discuss personnel matters in regards to Edwards' departure. The Press-Gazette's email to Edwards bounced back, suggesting his college email has been deactivated. The phone number listed on his faculty page does not go to his voicemail.

Filtzkowski and D'Souza both had classes with Edwards and were left in the dark about his sudden departure.

"His getting cut has made it feel like my education currently is being very negatively impacted," D'Souza said.

Vice president for student affairs says cuts are necessary

At the same time as the walkout, St. Nobert's vice president for student affairs, Joseph Webb, spoke with the press, saying the cuts are difficult but necessary.

"These decisions are challenging, are difficult, but they're necessary to ensure we're rightsizing the institution based on the declining student enrollment," he said.

The full-time student base has hovered between 2,300 and 1,900 over the past 15 years. But in 2022, enrollment dipped to 1,775 students and again this year to 1,750 students.

Webb said there isn't an exact number of how many faculty and staff need to be cut to be in line with a shrinking student population.

While cuts are affecting student relationships with leaving staff and faculty, Webb said the quality of education, programs, activities and services will remain unchanged.

Tuesday's town hall was to hear from students and let them know administrators are there for students, he said.

When asked if student input was considered before cuts were announced, Webb said those decisions were "high level."

"We've consulted with various campus constituent groups who are a part of this process," he said. "We even worked with third-party consultants in terms of collecting the appropriate institutional data to make data-informed decisions around these cuts."

Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105.

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: St. Norbert College students stage walkout, protesting recent cuts