The True Impact of UMass Cuts

By Eric Nakajima

The budget cuts at the University of Massachusetts take me back to when I was the student trustee in 1990. There are no good choices to make. Twelve years ago we chose deferred maintenance, unfilled jobs and massive tuition increases. This time, fee increases are matched with the closure of programs and departments. The university should think about its mission and structure in a time frame that looks past the current crisis. In hard times, it is too easy to rationalize the necessary as the good and then defend it. Personal experience has shown me that UMass serves necessary public functions that should not be permanently sacrificed.

When I entered UMass, I had had little contact with the university despite growing up in Amherst. The world I entered was amazing: literature, history and politics flowed from Blake to Aristotle, semiotics to the civil rights movement. I have to thank professors Julius Lester, Milton Cantor, James Der Derian, Jerry King and others. They opened worlds of ideas that continue to spur my thinking. That is what a good university can do. Young people are hungry to explore the challenges that can be made available at a university with deep departments and faculty.

I was very dedicated to student activism at UMass. One year I advised the Campus Center, another year I chaired a statewide board of student leaders. That perch gave a ringside seat to the last round of severe cuts. It also showed me how UMass is connected to high schools and community college throughout the state. If the university is unable to function as a true flagship campus, life opportunities will be diminished for thousands of our fellow citizens.

It is a shame that I couldn’t balance my priorities better back then: I ended up getting so involved that I flunked my classes and was thrown out of the university. Immaturity had something to do with it. A great political learning experience became an unexpected opportunity to reflect on the value of work.

UMass also provides crucial job opportunities. If you are from the Valley and you want to find a decent job, where do you look? UMass. State employment data confirms that UMass is the area’s largest employer. It is a place where employees can send their children, workers can retool for different jobs, and the wage and benefit standards set by collective bargaining sets a wage floor for Hampshire County. What UMass does internally has a profound effect on living standards throughout the Pioneer Valley. Everybody knows this is true.

I worked on campus at Auxiliary Services for six years. My friends were decent, hard working people. They make up a fair share of local communities – from Northfield to Springfield. They don’t ask for much, but they would like to continue to live and work and find modest prosperity in the places they call home. The administration should embrace their need for community. UMass lacks money. But the test of UMass’ commitment to western Massachusetts will be measured in heart and commitment. We can stick this out if we stick together.

Eventually I shook off my mistakes and decided to go on with my life. Where can someone go with little money and an imperfect record? Many schools won’t take you. You can burn to develop yourself and be scared that you will never get another chance. Where can you go? Once again, the answer is UMass. It was hard to walk into the dean’s office and reapply. But UMass was very helpful. And, it was not access to nothing. I am grateful to Professor Craig Thomas and just about the entire department of Spanish and Portuguese. I improved skills and was able to break down limitations and push to do more. In the end, I graduated with honors and – because UMass is a respected university – I was accepted into the University of California, Berkeley for graduate school. Access, sure, but access to an opportunity that opened doors to new intellectual horizons and careers. Everyone in Massachusetts should have that chance.

UC-Berkeley has taught me a few things about UMass. Though it may seem surprising, UMass offers better administrative and support services than Berkeley. You never hear that said but it is true: trust me. Berkeley does have fantastic resources, talented students and faculty. However, Berkeley’s great resources and departments boil down to money and reputation. Money buys a lot of books and hires staff -–it is indispensable. Reputation, however, has an almost alchemical quality. Root and soil alone will not make the wine.

And that is where I worry about UMass. The administration appears to be losing its focus. UMass is teachers who work every day in classrooms throughout our state. UMass is divorced mothers, finishing degrees while holding down jobs, UMass is union labor – from loading docks to the leading edge of research. It is not simply a community, and its purpose is our strength. The permanent structure of the university should not be shaped by the contours of this crisis. The public needs UMass to remain on the job.

Eric Nakajima is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts who currently is pursuing a master’s degree in city planning at the University of California, Berkeley.