Last spring, rumors about the University of Dallas’ financial situation swirled throughout the semester. No student seemed to know the full story, and the university’s administration did not address the rumors publicly.
However, just five days before classes began, President Sanford sent an email to the student body officially addressing the changes within the university and explaining what they mean to the student body.
In his email, he said that “As you review your schedules for the Fall, some of you will find a professor you anticipated taking is no longer assigned to your class. Every year, there is some shifting of the faculty at the university. This summer we had more than typical shifting.”
In order to address our financial situation, the school’s administration offered some tenured professors a retirement package, according to Sanford. He also said that the graduate College of Business, the Education department and the Classical Learning department would bear the brunt of these changes.
I believe that the impact on the students went far beyond what the president communicated in his short email. Beyond just the one-off schedule changes here and there, student activities and many departments were affected.
The French program is one example. As a French major myself, I know that the upheaval caused by the departure of one of our beloved professors was substantial. The future of the French program was uncertain until just before the semester began, when we were notified of the status of our program.
Now, there is no one to teachmany of the upper level courses previously offered. leaving the advanced French students to patch a degree plan together. Replacement classes in other departments, such as art history and English, have been offered, but these are no replacement for a true, immersive French class.
The French program is not the only one with these challenges. In the art department, the university eliminated an entire concentration without notifying students in advance.
One Fine Arts major learned her printmaking concentration would be eliminated after the Spring 2027 semester on her first day of her printmaking class. She was given no advance notice, and has now had to change her degree plan entirely. Ironically, the current exhibition in our art gallery is by an alumnus who was a printmaking major.
I do not know the status of every department on campus, but I do know that students across campus have been facing extra challenges this semester.
The changes have extended beyond our academics, with student clubs and activities being affected as well.
Due to cuts, many clubs are working with much smaller budgets than they have had in previous semesters. The Art Village Association, for example, lost over $100, making it difficult to purchase supplies and plan events around a limited budget.
For me, student clubs make life on campus more enjoyable. I worry that without adequate funding, our clubs will struggle to host the kinds of events they have in the past.
I understand that the university faces major financial constraints. I also understand that in times like these, like President Sanford expressed, higher education institutions are struggling around the country. It’s true that measures must be taken to ensure the survival and future of our university.
My disappointment lies not just in the decisions themselves, but in the lack of communication from our administration. Some professors, like in the French program, communicated their departure to students ahead of time. Beyond these individual efforts, students were given very little information.
I find it frustrating and even angering to have departments I am involved in impacted so greatly with no correspondence from the people in charge regarding these changes. I believe that regular and transparent updates from the university administration could have greatly mitigated this frustration and that of the student body.
The president updating students at a weekly rosary is a step in the right direction, but does not erase the previous silence. When communication between the students and administration breaks down, students fill in information themselves. A lack of communication fuels rumors and causes unnecessary stress.
I would urge the president and the rest of the university administrators to, in future, communicate with us students, especially when something this significant is happening. These changes do not represent a small disruption to a limited number of students; they affected academic departments, degree plans, activities, professors and trust in our administration.
We may not agree with the decisions the administration makes, but we deserve to understand what is happening at our university.
Caroline Fortenberry, originally from Lincoln, Nebraska, is a Junior Art History and French double major. She is the Co-President of the Art Village Association.