Wright State students plan protest of upcoming budget cuts

Wright State University’s “Education First Coalition” is planning a protest for the April 7 board of trustees meeting.

Wright State University’s “Education First Coalition” is planning a protest for the April 7 board of trustees meeting.

A group of Wright State University students and organizations will protest expected budget cuts and layoffs that could come to light at the April 7 board of trustees meeting.

Students are planning to march to the board’s committee meeting scheduled for 8 a.m. in the student union Apollo room, according to an event created on Facebook. The students call themselves Wright State’s “Education First Coalition.”

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The “March for Education” event page on Facebook calls for administrative budget cuts, the release of university audits, divestment from hedge funds, a moratorium on laying off faculty and no tuition increases, though a state tuition freeze has been in place for years.

For more than three weeks, the group has also been circulating a petition to save jobs that could be cut. The petition had more than 1,000 signatures as of March 20, according to a post on the group’s Facebook page.

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Wright State laid off 23 employees in October and more positions are expected to be cut in April. The university must trim $25 million from its fiscal year 2018 budget in order to regain its financial footing, officials have said.

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