One of the biggest issues facing today’s colleges and universities is budget allocation. Students, staff, and administration may never completely agree on where money should be spent, how it should be invested, and where it should be restricted. However, in the case of a private college, such as Gustavus, reports stating exactly where- and how much- money is being allocated do not require public release.

As a result of these cuts, a student-led movement, ‘Our Future, Our Voices, #OurGustavus,’ has recently sprung up via social media sites.

“The thought is that, together our voices are louder than one individual and one individual group, because that’s just the way it is. So ‘Our Future, Our Voices, #OurGustavus,’ was kind of coined after all of the cuts had been made on campus, and was kind of student’s response to try to create a collective voice,” Junior Nicole Ektnitphong said.

Recent increases in program, faculty, and funding cuts have caused particular concern over the issue of financial transparency at Gustavus.

Ektnitphong expressed the uneasiness she feels reflects the current mindset of the campus.

“The cuts have not just been happening this year, but it seems like it’s been getting a lot more momentum with the various cuts around campus. Last year, I became very aware of this issue of how we are handling our money, and the whole transparency issue. This year, to my knowledge, it is happening all over campus including The CICE Office, Diversity Center, Chinese classes, Nordic Ski Team, The Center for Vocation and Integrated Learning, and then certain professors and faculty of course, and I am sure I could go on,” Ektnitphong said.

Senior Anna McDevitt, one of the founders of the #OurGustavus movement, has been digging further as to why the cuts are happening.

“A change to involving students, staff, and faculty in administrative and budget decisions from the start has the potential to be very constructive because that way, when the College is forced to make decisions and cuts like this we, as the Gustavus community, wouldn’t feel so powerless and victimized by those decisions,” McDevitt said.

An additional cut that has caused particular outcry among the Gustavus community is the cut of Chris Johnson, director of vocational reflection and integrated learning and associate director in the Center for Servant Leadership.

“As the result of Chris’ ongoing efforts, vocational reflection is now firmly embedded in much of the curriculum and programming here at Gustavus. It is my understanding, based on conversations with administrators, that this was a factor in the decision to cut Chris from the College’s payroll. But to terminate his position in the wake of such success is, in my opinion, very flawed logic. The importance of vocation is figuring out how your individual passions can best serve the needs of the world. So in cutting support for vocational reflection, we are essentially threatening Gustavus’ core values that give meaning to the tagline ‘make your life count,” McDevitt said.

Senior Annalise Dobbelstein says that she is seeing more and more students become involved in this movement.

“I have heard other Gusties talking about how students did not get a voice in these decisions, which ultimately affect all students, faculty, and staff. Students are discussing how cuts are being made that directly affect them and that they were unaware that the cuts were going to take place, and why. Specifically, the Nordic Ski Team and the Finance Manager in the CICE office,” Dobbelstein said.

Dobbelstein also highlighted what she feels is the heart of the issue.

“Overall, I think the biggest issue on campus is the lack of information and communication for students, faculty and staff. I know of many departments that had no idea that cuts were going to be taking place specifically in their department, and the communication from the administration side was very poor at best. Many staff and faculty, as well as students still have questions of why certain issues and cuts are taking place and no one has been seeming to answer our questions,” Dobbelstein said.

Ektnitphong summed up the reason behind the movement with the following statement: “It is a concern rooted in a love for Gustavus and I think that is what is so strong, is that we all go to school here for a reason, different reasons, but we are here and we love Gustavus, and that’s why we are so concerned and we would love to know more about how these cuts are made that affect us and affect the people that we work with and we learn with, and I think that is not asking for a lot.”