By Andrew Mollenauer
Department of Education impacting UMD:
In an executive order last month, President Donald Trump announced the end of the Department of Education. The order will elicit significant change in the landscape of education, affecting students from grade schools to colleges and universities.
“Dismantling [the department] means defunding programs that feed, educate and protect our most vulnerable and underserved students, and leaving many families fearful and anxious and communities reeling,” Tim Walker of NEA wrote.
According to Walker, Title 1 would be among the programs at risk in wake of Trump’s order.
University of Maryland, College Park, President Darryll Pines expressed to the community his awareness of the issue.
“We are meeting on a regular basis with the deans and campus leadership to understand how these changes are affecting our campus community and to navigate our path forward,” Pines stated in a mass email to the campus community in February.
Students can expect to feel the toll of the executive action in its consequences regarding grants, research and other matters.
“This definitely concerns me since I heavily rely on scholarships and grants [through the department] to be able to continue to pursue a degree in higher education,” Grace Donnelly, a sophomore criminology and criminal justice major, said.
Grad students’ unionization:
University of Maryland graduate students’ push for union and collective bargaining protections is gaining traction.
“It was really energizing for us and helped us see that we do have a collective power,” said Declan Langton, a second-year doctoral student at Maryland, referencing a February picketing demonstration.
Langton said the desired outcome of the movement would be “a victory” for graduate students past and present.
“I know students personally in my program, and outside my program, who struggle with food insecurity, with being able to … pay for rent,” said Mikol Bailey, Graduate Student Government’s Vice President for Financial Affairs and Student Fee Matters.
Langton said he is among the graduate students who have not received stipends on time, which he described as “incredibly stressful” and “really disheartening.”
According to Bailey, the impact on graduate students has been pervasive, which has translated into enthusiastic support for change among students of a myriad of academic disciplines.
“Folks who are pushing for this union aren’t just from one college or one set of departments,” Bailey said. “It just seems to be across the board.”
Langton, despite the challenges, is encouraged by the galvanizing community’s pursuit of change, namely in its GLU recognition rally.
“I think it was one of the most special moments that I have had here at UMD,” Langton said. “It was amazing to see everyone come together and to speak in one voice.”