A campus coalition at MUN is calling on the provincial government to “stop the cuts” and restore funding to their “crumbling” university.
The group represents a wide range of organizations including the faculty association, students’ union, CUPE, NAPE, and faculty from the Marine Institute.
The coalition launched a Fund MUN campaign on Tuesday, saying a decade of cuts to core funding at Memorial has had an impact not just on the university, but the province as a whole.
Nicholas Keough, director of external affairs with MUNSU, notes they’ve created a website and are directing students, staff and others to contact their elected officials.
Nicholas Keough (VOCM News)
“Students and faculty and staff have had enough of being ignored by the provincial government,” says Keough, adding they’re fed up with the lack of response from the government.
Meanwhile, Premier Andrew Furey says issues with MUN infrastructure should be directed to university administration, not government.
“You have a structural governance issue that needs to be dealt with from a fiscal lens, whether that’s managing their own assets or managing the infrastructure that they have there,” he said.
Nor would Furey commit to meeting with MUN’s student union despite their pleas this week.
He says he already met with MUNSU last year, adding the Education minister plans to meet with students in the near future.
