500 signature goal! Updates from the student body.

We hit 500 signatures. Thank you. Here is what we know so far that you should know too.

In April, Muhlenberg held Strategic Planning Workshops they said influenced their new financial plan. The top voted item from the community was “staff and faculty retention” with 26 votes. The administration stated that these meetings helped them make the new stewardship plan and they decided one month later they cut 38 positions. Visit the MulesForTransparency instagram page for access to information on these meetings.

The person who was brought in to design the cuts is Larry Bomback, a fractional CFO hired by the board. Not a Muhlenberg employee. His last job was Albright College, where he eliminated half the full-time staff and bet on athletics to drive enrollment. Multiple articles share how his solution was only short-term, and now the Albright College’s future is uncertain. The board brought him to make these cuts.

The college’s own Financial Stewardship Plan admits they need to establish a definition of shared governance. They don’t have one. They said so in writing. This is the same administration currently contesting an AAUP censure for violating academic freedom. The email sent to AAUP has been forwarded to the national email.

We are working alongside Mules for Transparency and the student body has been incredible. The administration continues to prevent access to vital information by sending information in large emails, often behind links that could be easy to miss. Yet students are finding and sharing information, contributing ideas for demands, and making their voices heard. This is a community effort and it is growing. Information from the student body is being organized to be shared in future updates. This petition is still not over. On behalf of the student body I want to let professors and staff affected know we are here and thinking of you!

More updates to come, please continue to share amongst other students, faculty, family, and alumni! We could not do this or grow this fast without everyone’s support! I encourage everyone who signed to leave a comment with their experiences.