Vol. 131 NO. 2
April 17, 2025
Faculty, Staff and Students push back with 330+ signature petition in s upport of student media as Board of Trustees becomes final hope The following is the full petition, including all signatures at the time of this story’s final edit. The petition was published by the Communication Department on April 8, and shared via email, social media, posters and in print. Dear Colleagues: As our students have written about this week on The Observer and PULSE websites, we learned over spring break that the S&A Committee has proposed a near defunding of student media – The Observer, celebrating its 110year anniversary in 2026, and PULSE magazine. The student literary journal, Manastash, part of the English Department, faces a similar situation, as do other groups on campus. Although we understand the need for cuts, financial decisions reveal values. The Observer and PULSE are nationally award-winning campus news organizations; their existence supports free speech and a forum for students, while their traditional funding by student fees ensures an independent and free press – by the students for the students – on the CWU campus. The proposed allocations – $1,100 of $56,375 requested for Observer and $2,000 of $28,412 requested for PULSE – will not be anywhere near enough to maintain these operations, which rely on paid student salaries to take on leadership roles with great responsibility.
PULSE also relies on S&A funding to support its printing of 1,000 quarterly copies, which get fully distributed and, frankly, fly off shelves. Defunding student journalists sends the message that student voices don’t matter. The move, which requires approval by administrators and trustees, undermines the student press’s crucial role in informing students about occurrences on campus and holding campus leadership accountable. Please read our students’ eloquent statements about this in the links above. We are writing to ask for your support in petitioning the S&A Committee, ASCWU student government representatives, VP Joel Klucking and the CWU Board of Trustees to reject the Committee’s current proposal. In their final vote about The Observer defunding, the Committee seems to be making its own plea for just such a reversal. The minutes read: “It feels wrong and is very sad, but this is just a recommendation and still has to be approved by the groups.” Please support CWU student media by signing your name to this letter and/ or sending your own message to the relevant parties.
PETITION NAMES ON PAGE 3
Nearly 100 people attend S&A meeting to protest proposed budget cuts Jackson Roberts, Brandon Mattesich Co-Editors-In-Chief
T
he Services & Activities (S&A) Committee cut short public comment after nearly 100 people showed up to SURC 301 to protest the committee’s recently proposed budgets. Despite the fact that the committee’s proposed budgets cut funding to programs across the university (see chart on page 5), most of the speakers came to speak out about the proposed defunding of student media and Theatre & Film proposals. The S&A Committee is a majority student committee responsible for the allocation of student fees to requesting programs across campus. Their proposals are reviewed by ASCWU and VP of Finance and Administration Joel Klucking, then are sent to the Board of Trustees for approval. In spite of the out-
cry about the current proposals, they are being sent to the Board of Trustees unedited from their original state. The Observer and PULSE magazine had both posted social media campaigns before the event, asking those interested to attend in support of student media. The attendance exceeded the 87 person maximum capacity of the S&A board room, and many students were turned away or made to stand outside the room.
CONTINUED ON PAGES 6 & 7