DePauw The
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Feb. 27, 2019 Volume 167 Issue 17
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56 staff laid off, faculty
offered voluntary retirement Story by Katie Hunger Editor-in-Chief
Story by Peter Nicieja News Editor
I full time
part time
n what President Mark McCoy says is an effort to reduce its debt, DePauw University will eliminate 56 full and part-time staff positions and offer buyouts to eligible full professors. Staff will remain in their current positions until June 30, and retirements will not be effective until the end of the 2019-20 school year.
56 staff
off laid out of 567, nearly 12%
President Mark McCoy and Kathy Vrabeck, chair of the Board of Trustees, made the announcement in separate faculty and staff meetings Tuesday. The layoffs, affecting nearly 12 percent of staff, will save the university $4.3 million a year, according to Bob Leonard, vice president of finance. He added that the university will make a one-time withdrawal from the endowment of $2.5 million to pay for severance packages. Many of the staff remaining on campus after the announcement was made declined to comment. However, Jonathan Nichols-Pethick, director of the Pulliam Center, said, “This is a really, really devastating outcome. The tone is hopeful that we can pull out of this, and this is a necessary move, but I don’t think everybody’s feeling that it is helpful.” Matthew Beekley, associate professor of kinesiology said, “I feel sadness. These are some of our friends. They’re spouses and parents. I’m just bummed. This is happening with higher-ed in general, however.” When the board of trust-
ees met in August to discuss the priorities for the year, they learned from Leonard that the university was projected to operate at a deficit of $5 to 6.5 million a year, said Vrabeck. As a result, the administration launched a benchmarking process that looked at other liberal arts institutions similar to DePauw to determine how they could save money. When the Board of Trustees reviewed the results of the benchmarking at their January meeting, they learned that DePauw had, on average, 125 more staff members than other similar college and universities had, said Vrabeck. DePauw’s current debt is $110 million, according to numbers shared at a Feb. 4 faculty meeting. Despite this number, DePauw’s campus will undergo several capital improvements in the coming years, including renovations to first-year residence halls, Roy O. West Library, and upperclassmen living units as well as the construction of new first-year residences, according to Leonard. Funding for these projects will either come from fundraising,
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source: Ken Owen, Office of Institutional Reserach
Coaching Generations Tim Hreha speaks to his football team during halftime of a game. Photo courtesy of Ken Owen
50 years and counting Tim Hreha finishes half a millennium coaching at DePauw Story by Brooks Hepp Sports Editor
Tim Hreha sits in his office in the Lily Center surrounded by old photos and conference championship rings from his days playing and coaching football and track at DePauw University. The rings are all unique, representing three different conferences DePauw has played in during Hreha’s tenure. The photos resemble different eras of life, some stuck in black and white while others are recent and vibrant. Each ring and photo encompassing a different memory in his life. Hreha, a 1973 graduate of DePauw University, is in his 50th consecutive year with the school, which includes his years as a student, teacher and coach. “He is the link between the past and the present,” head football coach Bill Lynch said. “When alumni come back to DePauw, they come back to see Coach Hreha.” Hreha grew up in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, a small, industrial town 15 minutes outside of Pittsburgh. He grew up a football player
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