UNL faculty, students use jazz to protest proposed eliminations

On a cold Wednesday afternoon, a group of faculty and students marched throughout the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus in a New Orleans-inspired jazz funeral procession.

It was an effort to bring attention to an upcoming Board of Regents vote to potentially eliminate four departments on campus. Greg Simon, associate professor of composition and jazz studies, led the band. He said they wanted to show up in solidarity for the programs facing elimination or budget cuts, especially since they were almost one of those programs.

“We're still cognizant of the fact that people are going to lose their jobs,” Simon said. “Students in Nebraska are not going to have the opportunities that they deserve, frankly, at their flagship state university.”

The Glenn Korff School of Music almost lost its director position as part of the cuts, but that decision was scaled back in Chancellor Rodney Bennett’s most recent proposal. That proposal also includes the elimination of four departments: textiles, merchandising and fashion design; earth and atmospheric sciences; statistics; and educational administration.

The band started outside Memorial Stadium and walked through campus by the business school, Andrews Hall, the music and theater schools, and eventually ended up in front of the union. Many students on their way to and from classes stopped to watch and record videos of the processional.

Simon said he hoped those who saw the protest took away a message of love and solidarity.

“We are all out here because we love the university, because we care about it, and because we believe that Nebraska, as a whole, deserves the best university it can possibly have,” Simon said. “All of the programs that are threatened are a part of that.”

Some students, like freshman computer engineering major Liam O’Neal, even joined the processional. Although O’Neal’s program isn’t facing elimination, he said he wanted to show his support.

“It's just empathy for me,” O’Neal said. “I feel really bad for all of the people that their programs are being cut, the students and the faculty. I know I'm not in the line of fire, but I want to be there for them.”

O’Neal also said that the cuts are a bad idea, especially for statistics, which he said is important for a research university like UNL.

Jae Shallenberger, freshman animal science major on the pre-vet track, walked alongside O’Neal in the procession. Shallenberger said the loss of science-related programs is concerning, especially meteorology in the face of climate change.

“I'm a big science guy, so I think if we take away our opportunities with science, we're going to see a lot of declines in our knowledge as a society,” Shallenberger said. “We need to keep pumping out educated people.”

O’Neal urged the Board of Regents and university officials to find money to keep these programs going. Shallenberger asked the regents to have compassion.

“Feels like you're not really listening to the people that are in these programs,” Shallenberger said. “I feel like you need to really put some thought into what you're doing, because it will affect a lot of people.”