UW President Sent Emails Considering Cutting Liberal Arts Programs

Universities of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman sent a report to chancellors earlier this year that outlined other struggling universities’ moves to cut some liberal arts programs to save money. On Wednesday, The Daily Cardinal, a student newspaper at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, published a copy of the email Rothman sent to chancellors of all Universities of Wisconsin institutions at the beginning of the current academic year. The report focused on the struggles of Henderson State University in Arkansas, which made significant cuts to liberal arts programs as it faced financial challenges. Rothman listed 16 takeaways from the article, including “consider[ing] shifting away from liberal arts programs to programs that are more career specific, particularly if the institution serves a large number of low-income students.” Following The Daily Cardinal’s reporting, Rothman insisted that he has not asked universities to implement those steps. Liam Beran, the student reporter who broke the story, told News 3 Now on Thursday he received the email as part of an open records requests for a number of Rothman’s emails.