Muhlenberg College cut 13 untenured faculty members, 9 filled staff positions, and 16 vacant staff positions, 38 total, without cause or public explanation. No reasons were given, no community input was sought, and many students only found out when professors and staff emailed them directly. Staff members were let go effective immediately, losing even their email access the same day. Faculty were given non-reappointment letters with no plan for how their classes, expertise, or services would be replaced. This was done in silence, and the people who make this school what it is are paying the price. The administration met with those affected only to deliver the news, offering no information, no reasoning, and no plan for the fallout. Meanwhile, the college is still mid-construction on the Seegers Union expansion and the president’s total compensation is nearly $500k according to the college’s own 990 filing. Yes, construction funds are restricted donations that cannot be redirected, but that raises a bigger question: if the school can fundraise for buildings, why isn’t the board putting that same energy into retaining its people? The board had the ability to engage the community, explore alternatives, and fight for these people. They chose not to. After hundreds of people signed this petition, the college released a Financial Stewardship Plan and community letter on May 21, 2026. While we acknowledge the college finally responded, the response raised more questions than it answered. Their own FAQ admits the college currently does not have a unified definition of shared governance while using the term repeatedly throughout. No criteria were provided for how people were selected for termination. And President Harring wrote that none of it will surprise you about a plan that upended 38 people’s lives and left students completely in the dark about who is gone and what happens to their classes. Students are not just surprised, they are angry, and they are concerned at the lack of consistency throughout the college’s response. These are not just employees, they are people students have built real relationships with. Professors and staff who wrote recommendation letters, who stayed after class, who made you feel like you belonged here. Those connections do not just transfer to someone new. For a lot of us, these professors and staff members are a big part of why we chose Muhlenberg in the first place, and losing them is not something that can be replaced with a course reassignment. Courses will disappear, research opportunities will vanish, and mentors who shaped our time here are gone. We pay tens of thousands of dollars a year for an education that is now being quietly hollowed out with no explanation and no plan for what comes next. That is not acceptable. We are asking the Board of Trustees to reverse these decisions and provide full transparency on how and why this happened. If you have more context, information, or were directly affected, please share your story in the comments.