See letter with links here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cD0TQKwG1_ka3KufKBkC7KXj8cArrpofthyflfRHvAo/edit?usp=sharing

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Dear Chancellor Wachter, Interim Provost Weissenburger, and Interim Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Management Harms,

We, the undersigned, are writing in solidarity with student-led organizing and the overwhelming community opposition to your recent decisions to shutter 9 majors, 15 minors, and 1 master’s program and to place 15 other programs on warning -- nearly one third of your institution’s total programs. We recognize that your decision explicitly targets programs where students tend to engage in critical, creative inquiry and independent thinking to make sense of the world (e.g., sociology, journalism, political science, media studies, and arts-focused programs).

Your public moves make it clear that the source of your decisions are rooted elsewhere than the best interests of University of Wisconsin-Superior (UWS) students, staff, and faculty. Justifications for denying UWS students the kind of quality, rigorous, and expansive education -- one that is becoming increasingly restricted to the upper classes -- have included:
     claims that first generation college students -- 46 percent of your student population -- are not intelligent enough to make choices about what they desire to study,

     spinning a summer "taskforce", which focused only on minors and specifically made no recommendations to remove programs, to argue that faculty were involved in an “ongoing [decision-making] process” to make the cuts,

     shifting the blame for the need for program cuts away from your own and the state’s political agenda and onto poor faculty advising and teaching without any evidence to back this up,

     and claims that the decision will not affect faculty jobs because faculty will be asked to teach outside their areas of expertise (which will aid in enrollment how, exactly?).

This decision is plainly the rotten fruit of Governor Walker’s, the state legislature’s, and the UW system administration and Board of Regents’ political agenda to weaken and make university labor more precarious, eliminate faculty governance, and make broadscale top-down restructuring decisions that treat students as pawns for corporate interests. We stand in solidarity with students, faculty and staff at UWS because we see these same classed, gendered, and racialized attempts to limit critical study being made at our own institutions and within K12 education in the name of budget “crises”. The resistance you are experiencing to your restructuring plans is a part of a much larger, deeper, and longer movement for educational self-determination.  

We are deeply inspired by the largely student-led resistance to these draconian cuts. Their efforts make plain that we have the power to educate ourselves in and through struggle, to build the kinds of institutions we want to study within, and to hold you and all administrations accountable to the people their decisions most affect. We have the power to fight for institutions we need and desire, institutions that foster our capacity to study and meaningfully participate in our communities on our terms. UWS is the front line in the struggle for reclaiming and reimagining what public higher education might become. Listen to the wisdom of your students, faculty, and staff.

We urge you to immediately withdraw your proposal to cut nearly a third of your academic programs and concede to the demands and requests made by students, staff, and faculty for a hospitable environment that is welcoming of its first generation students and all students, staff, and faculty.

Sincerely,

Erin Dyke, assistant professor of curriculum studies, Oklahoma State University
Wenjie Liao, assistant professor of sociology, North Carolina State University
Edwin Mayorga, assistant professor of Educational Studies, Swarthmore College
David Boehnke, social studies teacher in Minneapolis, IWW member
Lisa Lynn Brooks, adjunct, Education Foundations, Montclair State University.
Jenna Cushing-Leubner, assistant professor of curriculum and instruction, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Eli Meyerhoff, instructor, Duke University
Erin B. Stutelberg, assistant professor of English education, Salisbury University
Rahsaan Mahadeo, PhD candidate, University of Minnesota
Liz Mason-Deese, term assistant professor, George Mason University
Kai Hung, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, Eastern Illinois University
Therese Quinn, Associate Professor of Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago
Erika Busse, assistant professor of sociology, Macalester College
Gabriel Gomez, professor, Information Studies, Chicago State University
Tim Stallmann, visiting research scholar, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University
Bic Ngo, professor, Curriculum & Instruction, University of Minnesota
Raphi Rechitsky, Assistant Professor of Sociology, National University, San Diego, CA
Alex Zukas, Professor of History, National University, San Diego, CA
Cynthia Lewis, Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Minnesota
Lorna Lueker Zukas, Professor of Sociology/Global Studies, National University, San Diego, CA
michelle fine, distinguished professor of critical psychology and urban education, the graduate center, CIty University of New York
Wayne Au, Professor, School of Educational Studies, University of Washington Bothell
Jelena Radovic Fanta, Assistant Professor of Anthropology & Sociology, Governors State University
Abigail Rombalski, PhD candidate, University of Minnesota
Craig Dalton, Assistant Professor of Global Studies and Geography, Hofstra University
Sherryl Kleinman, Professor of Sociology, UNC, Chapel Hill
Michael Schwalbe, Professor of Sociology, North Carolina State University
Sebastian Cobarrubias, Assistant Professor of Global Studies, University of North Carolina-Charlotte
Maribel Casas-Cortes, independent scholar
Sharon L. James, Professor of Classics, UNC Chapel Hill
Vichet Chhuon, Assoc. Prof., Curriculum & Instruction, Univ of Minnesota
Jessica Fields, Professor, Sociology and Sexuality Studies, San Francisco State University
Craig Fortier, Assistant Professor, Social Development Studies, Renison University College, University of Waterloo
Amy Brown, Critical Writing Fellow in Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania
Natalia Vargas Márquez, PhD candidate and Instructor, University of Minnesota
Zach Schwartz-Weinstein, Independent Scholar
Alec Foster, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Michigan
Vanessa Reubendale, PhD Student and Instructor, University of Minnesota
Althea Sircar, Visiting Professor of Political Science, Macalester College
nalan erbil, PhD candidate and instructor, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Carl Sack, GIS Faculty, Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College
Chance McMahon, PhD candidate in Comparative Literature, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Angelica Maier, PhD student and TA, University of Minnesota
Kristiana Wright, University of Minnesota
Zachary A. Casey, Assistant Professor of Educational Studies, Rhodes College
Anne Crampton, visiting assistant professor of education, St. Olaf College
Zachary Pierson, PhD Candidate, University of Minnesota
Crystal Watkins, Social Studies Teacher, Oklahoma City
Karen Gregory, Lecturer in Digital Sociology, University of Edinburgh
Liz Deegan, Oklahoma State University
Lydia Wood, PhD Candidate, San Diego State University
Will Payne, PhD Candidate, University of California, Berkeley
Anne Ittner Assistant Professor Literacy Education Western Oregon University
Jason Lee, UW-Madison
Jessica Eckhardt, PhD, Professor of Sociology, Northland College
Dakoda Smith, adjunct instructor, Oklahoma State University
Katharine Perko, New York City College of Technology
Max Haiven, Canada Research Chair in Culture, Media and Social Justice, Lakehead University
Denise Goerisch, Grand Valley State University
Michael Meeropol, Professor Emeritus of Economics, Western New England University, Springfield, Mass, USA
Teddi Brock, Department of Women's Studies, San Diego State University
Sarah Combellick-Bidney, Associate Professor of Political Science, Augsburg University
Joe Stapleton, Duke University
Krista Benson, Grand Valley State University
Lily Brewer, PhD student and instructor, History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh
Amber Kelsie, University of Pittsburgh
Alison Cameron, Undergraduate student at Oberlin College
Sara Rezvi, PhD Doctoral Student, University of Illinois at Chicago
Anna Zeide, Clinical Assistant Professor of History, Oklahoma State University
Yunyi Li, PhD student in Cinema and Media Studies, UCLA
Nishaant Choksi, Kyoto University
Joseph Keady, UMass Amherst
John a. Weaver Georgia Southern university
Eric Thurman, University of the South
Julie Kitzerow, Whitman College Student
Nick Mitchell, Assistant Professor, Department of Feminist Studies, University of California, Santa Cruz
Louisane LeBlanc - Concordia University - Montréal
Nicholas Fleisher, Associate Professor of Linguistics, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Iris Blake, PhD candidate, UC Riverside
Tilly Fitzmaurice, PhD Candidate, Durham University
Elsa Noterman, PhD Candidate, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Kevin Dyke, Assistant Professor/Maps & Spatial Data Curator, Oklahoma State University
Cyrus Pireh, Composer usa
Sina Kramer, Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies, Loyola Marymount University
David Melendez, PhD student, Theatre Arts and Dance, University of Minnesota
Keely Franklin, ASU EED student
Ana Claudia dos Santos Sao Bernardo - University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Christine Evans, Associate Professor of History, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee
Charlene Holkenbrink, Doctoral Student in Education, SDSU, and instructor of sociology, San Diego Mesa College
Mark Fonder, Professor Emeritus, Ithaca College
Ellen Knutson, Adjunct Assistant Professor, School of Information Sciences, Univ. of Illinois U-C
Scott M. Wallace, PhD Student, Sociology, University of Illinois at Chicago
Colin Meinrath, SCC Student
Angie Carter, assistant professor of social sciences, Michigan Technological University
Brandon Engblom, J.D. Candidate University of St. Thomas
Taylor Gombos, PhD Student, History, New York University
Kyungmin Baek, Assistant Professor at Nazarbayev University
Mikaila Mariel Lemonik Arthur, Chair and Associate Professor of Sociology, Rhode Island College
Debbie Cheslock, UWS graduate student
Meagan Guptil, UWS legal studies, poli sci alumni, St. Thomas JD candidate
Tara K. Young UW-Madison Alumna
Jamie Steckelberg, Senior Lecturer UW Rock County and adjunct instructor at Madison College
Doreen Hernesman UWS Alumni
Mary Genske former uws student
Guadalupe Rincon, PhD Student Penn State University
Sandra I.Aldana, PhD, Independent Scholar
Genevieve Sanders
Tracey Pyscher, Assistant Professor of Secondary Education, Western Washington University
Kristina Wood, UWS Alumni
Carsen Wetzel, Art Therapy Undergraduate Student of UW-Superior
Maya Herman
Drew McBrayer, Minnesota State University
Minzee Kim, Assistant Professor of Sociology, Ewha Womans University
Victor Nolet, Western Washington University
 Carrie Kim (UW grad), curator of education, OSU Museum of Art
Huy Chung, Writing Project Director of Research, University of California, Irvine
Geneva Blake, Western Washington University
Abbigail Feola, student, Macalester College - St Paul, MN
Cait Mohr, Grinnell College
Dalhia Mani, Assistant Professor, IIMB
Dennis L. Rudnick, Ph.D., Associate Director of Multicultural Education and Research, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Debora Wisneski, University of Nebraska Omaha
Chase Hobbs-Morgan, Visiting Assistant Professor of Politics, Oberlin College
Kristin Pitt, Associate Professir of Comparative Literature and Women's & Gender Studies, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Hillary Coenen, PhD Candidate Oklahoma State University
Erica Meiners, professor, Northeastern Illinois University
Shaun Soman, Washington And Lee University '17
Mark Eggert, Media Services Technician, Information Technology Services, Macalester College, St. Paul, MN, 1995 UW Superior Communicating Arts Alumni
Forrest Deacon, The New School for Social Research
Samir Beharic - University of Vienna - Austria
Azra Muftic - MA student at LSE & University of Vienna
Zachariah Anderson, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Lauren Golder, Penn State University
Sara Feldman, Lecturer in Jewish Culture and Society, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Brian Fitzpatrcik University of Massachusetts Boston
Ali Manthey, Transportation and Logistics Major, current UWS student
Shannon Turinetti -former UWS student
Trudy Fredericks, UWS graduate
Meghan Kelly, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Kat Selvocki, University of Washington
Shirin Deylami, Associate Professor, Western Washington University
Laura Laffrado, Western Washington University
Theo Wildcroft, PhD researcher, Open University, UK
Kate Miller, Senior Instructor, Women, Gender, and Sexuality SStudies Western Washington University
Caitlin Lee, Carthage College
Emily Kelly, English/Language Arts Educator at Superior High School, UWS Alumni
Kat Wiles, Staff, University of Michigan
Amara Miller - Lecturer in Sociology, California State University Sacramento
Terry W. White, Douglas County Supervisor, Superior, Wisconsin.
Kenneth Benz, University of Wisconsin-Superior student
Esra Dogramaci, Senior Editor, DW. (UWS Political Science Grad ‘02)
Elina Walchuk, Undergraduate Student at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Bonnie Saul - University of Minnesota
Geraldine Gomes Hughes, alumni, University of Minnesota Duluth
Geraldine Gomes Hughes, alumni, University of Minnesota Duluth
Matthew Koch, College of St. Scolastica
Jenny Manthey, Social Worker Zimmerman High School
Shelby Schuppe, MA Conflict Resolution Candidate Brandeis U.
Alex Manning, University of Minnesota
Malte Roos, MA Political science, Global politics and societal change, Malmö University, Sweden
Marley Hoefs, 2009 UWS Alumni
Jennifer Carlson, UWS alumna
Michael Slouber
Michael Slouber, Western Washington University
Eric Covey, Miami University
Matt Olkowski, University of Wisconsin-Madison
David Ankin University of Pittsburgh
Laissa M. Rodríguez, Visiting Assist. Professor, Lycoming College
Erich Wise, Sr. Lab Mechanician, university of California, Irvine
Anne Michelle Tessier, research investigator, Center for Human Growth and Development, University of Michigan
Vernon Johnson, Director, Ralph Munro Institute for Civic Education, Western Washington University
Anthony Jimenez, PhD Candidate, the University of Minnesota
Danielle Docka-Filipek, Christopher Newport University
Shi-Rong Lee, PhD candidate, Sciences Po
Joshua Olsberg, Assistant Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, National University, San Diego CA
Donna Gabaccia, Professor of History, University of Toronto
DŽenana Srabovic
Yuan Ding, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Zoe Torgerson, University of Wisconsin-Superior, Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School of Addictions Studies
Bill Nelson, University of Superior Wisconsin
Chris Drohan, Teaching Assistant Professor, Oklahoma State University
Jesse Olson, UWS alumnus
Shi-Rong Lee, PhD Candidate, Sciences Po
Stephanie Selvick, LGBT* Coordinator, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Audrey Lensmire, Associate Profssor of Education, Augsburg University, Minneapolis
René Lemieux, Part-Time Professor, Translation Studies, Concordia University
Debra Salazar, Professor of Political Science, Western Washington University
David Pellow, Professor, UCSB
Ann Mogush Mason, University of Minnesota
Josh Eiberg-Art Therapy/Marriage and Family Adler Graduate School
Julius Erlenbach, former Chancellor UWS
Jill Korhonen, UW-Superior Alumni, Superior WI business owner
Jerry L. Parker, Ed.D candidate, Southeastern Louisiana University
Robby Steltz, Alumni: Theatre/Writing
Shashika Fernando- University of Chicago, Chicago, IL
ChaQuana McEntyre
Ann Mitchell, Graduate Student, Roosevelt University
Kayla May, OCT
Hui Wilcox, Associate Professor of Sociology, St. Catherine University
Stacey Rootes, UW-Superior Alumni
Mindy Fried, Arbor Consulting Partners
Matthew Connolly, University at Buffalo
Toua Thao, UW-Superior
Joanna Núñez, Graduate Student, University of Minnesota
Klayton Longstreet Alimni
Mary Hermes, University of Minnesota
José Manuel Santillana, Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies
Rebecca Anderson JD PhD student and Yellowjacket alum, UW-Madison
Renee Standing tree UWS Alumnus
James Loucky, Western Washington University
John Staine UW-Superior Alumni
Lindsay Hagfors UW-Superior Student