What happened: Students at Commonwealth University Bloomsburg Campus protested with APSCUF (Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculty) on October 11th at Monty’s on upper campus.
Why it matters: Approximately 175 students, faculty, and others show solidarity with APSCUF by walking out of the meeting. The state of the CU merger and President Bashar Hanna’s legal battles have affected all in the Bloomsburg campus community.
The rest of the story:
Abby Brown, Emily Berker, and members of the Bloomsburg chemistry club pack into the sweat-dripping room to speak publicly about their grievances with the CU merger and support Professor and APSCUF treasurer, Eric Hawrelak.
“It’s harder to get into courses because they are prioritizing freshmen courses over senior courses because seniors won’t transfer,” Brown comments.
According to the president’s report at the Trustee’s meeting, the number of Mansfield students has dropped.
During Hawrelak’s speech, he emphasizes how leadership and lawsuits are causing a power imbalance at CU.
“This is a direct reflection of the Commonwealth’s leadership and its trustees. Once again, this will ultimately hurt our current students and our future students. If the top of your pyramid becomes unstable it can be usually fixed. If the base or foundation of your pyramid becomes unstable, it has the potential to cause a lot more damage than will be a lot more,”
Once Hawrelak’s speech concluded, most students walked out of the meeting. One trustee made a comment encouraging them to stay, mentioning that a student was going to speak later.
Members of the Council of Trustees were approached but declined to speak to The Voice.
Members of the Chemistry club explained how one professor in their department is forced to travel to campuses like Mansfield, who have only three active professors in their chemistry department. Many chemistry classes have moved online, so students from Mansfield and Lock Haven can attend. Students from Mansfield are having to travel to Bloomsburg to get the education they have paid for.
President of the Chemistry Club, Emily Bercher, adds, “People from Mansfield and Lock Haven can come in and take our seats away from us, because we have the resources, and they don’t.”
“The faculty are fully aware of the magnitude of change that consolidation brought to our local campuses and our new University. We have moved on from our anger over consolidation and now are focused on making Commonwealth [University] the best it can be to support our students. We fully accepted that new problems are going to arise, and we are willing to try to find solutions to those problems,” added Hawrelak.
A faculty member from Lockhaven pointed out how many people were online and in person standing and protesting this issue.
Many questions are left unanswered in this case, but the students, faculty, and staff stand strong defending their cause against the board of trustees and the president.
