When budgets cut deeper
Bethel University’s most recent cuts leave professors shocked and scrambling.
By Sophia Bass | Reporter
Angela Carlson-Lombardi, 50, walked down the narrow hallway of Lakeside Center. Her classroom, a small space tucked away in a corner, was just ahead of her. Feeling an exciting mixture of nervousness and anticipation, she walked into the room. Through the windows she could see the trees outside. It wasn’t her first day at Bethel University, but it was her first day there as a professor. The possibilities here were endless, until they weren’t.
“You always think it’s gonna happen somewhere else.” — Angela Carlson-Lombardi, Spanish professor
After 37 years at Bethel, Carlson-Lombardi is one of the 11 professors whose positions were terminated following Bethel’s most recent round of budget cuts. She was a transfer student who loved Bethel for its vibrant community and authentic faculty. Bethel was even responsible for the sponsorship letter that helped her husband, originally from South America, come to the United States. In 2017, after years of teaching elsewhere, including adjunct positions at the University of Minnesota, she returned to be a full-time professor in Bethel’s language department. Although she had heard about the budget cuts sweeping the country, she had no idea how deep they would cut at Bethel.
“You always think it’s gonna happen somewhere else,” she said.
In the week following Bethel’s announcement of the budget cuts, shock and anger plagued students and professors alike. Some professors wore a red ribbon in response to the news, and many students dressed in black. The Bethel community simultaneously voiced their grief and their support for the professors whose time at Bethel was soon to reach an early conclusion.
“They’re, you know, kinda the people who make Bethel, like, Bethel,” senior Molly Ophoven said.
In response to the outrage on campus, Bethel held a Q&A forum in The Underground with President Ross Alan, Vice President of Student Experience Miranda Powers and Provost Robin Rylaarsdam. Surrounded by many emotions and tears, students voiced their questions and concerns about the cuts. However, some students felt dissatisfied with the forum and believed that Alan, Powers and Rylaarsdam didn’t directly answer the questions posed.
“Nobody takes a job like this to make cuts,” Dean Barrett Fisher said. “You have to make decisions that are unpleasant for everybody but necessary for the wellbeing of the institution.”
The stress of these budget cuts stretched beyond just the professors. Some colleagues who were able to keep their positions were frustrated on their behalf. Many worried for Bethel’s future, and others feared they would be next. Students, too, felt the pressure.
“We’re stressed out too,” Ophoven said.
Also included in the cuts was Carlson-Lombardi’s colleague Dr. Sarah Tahtien-Pacheco. She’s been teaching at Bethel for 17 years. With the two of them leaving after this academic year, the Department of Languages and Cultures is left with only one full-time Spanish professor.
“[The cuts] decimated our department.” Gina Maltese-Preciado, adjunct Spanish professor
Bethel’s languages and cultures department was hit particularly hard by October’s cuts. The tight-knit community that lives on the fourth floor of Clausen Center gathered together Thursday to say goodbye to two of their own. Surrounded by students, colleagues and empanadas, Carlson-Lombardi and Tahtien-Pacheco celebrated their final few weeks at Bethel.
“[The cuts] decimated our department,” adjunct Spanish professor Gina Maltese-Preciado said.
Carlson-Lombardi, who will not be receiving severance from Bethel, has been hard at work searching for a job replacement. With cuts being a widespread issue across the country, finding a teaching position on short notice is difficult, exhausting and bittersweet. The hardest part about looking for a new job for Carlson-Lombardi isn’t just getting one, but staying in the right mindset.
“It is demoralizing to lose your position,” she said.
Adding to the pressure of job searching is the sudden financial burden looming over professors. Without a job in place, ex-professors will be making their living off unemployment and no healthcare coverage this summer. Even those who have found a replacement teaching job won’t get paid until they start working again in the fall.
“The summer will be a really difficult [financial] hardship for a lot of families,” adjunct Spanish professor Sarah Nervig Steil said.
Following these aggressive budget cuts, many feel concerned and uncertain about Bethel’s future. For some faculty, Bethel is no longer a place that they feel like they can confidently recommend to incoming students. Others hold on to the joy they’ve found in their relationships there. Some graduating seniors, such as Abby Schroeder, love Bethel but worry about what lies ahead.
“Bethel has a lot of potential, but this season we’re stepping into seems precarious,” she said.
As the academic year draws to a close and these professors prepare for their final goodbyes, their colleagues are left anxious and confused. Before the fall semester begins, they must now decide who’s going to teach the classes that have previously been handled by their departing colleagues — all while worrying if they’ll be next on the chopping block.
Near the end of the Language and Cultures Department’s farewell reception for Dr. Carlson-Lombardi and Dr. Tahtien-Pacheco Thursday, Tahtien-Pacheco could be overheard reassuring her colleagues saying “I’m OK,” as she went to teach her final class ever at Bethel University.
Among Bethel professors affected by the cuts are English professor Mark Bruce and associate history professor Amy Poppinga. Each of them have taught at Bethel for over a decade, and will be leaving at the end of the 2022–2023 academic year. These are their stories:
