Iowa View: Foolish to cut academics to cover deficit in athletics - CHRISTOPHER C. MORPHEW, Des Moines Register

The recent action by the University of Northern Iowa to close its laboratory school, natural history museum and 48 academic programs is testament to the challenges this high quality public university faces. According to reports in the Register, UNI faces a $5 million budget deficit. This is a substantial budget hole for a university of UNI’s size and requires that the university identify a strategy to close this gap. But let’s be clear: There is ample evidence that the choices UNI’s leaders are making do not represent a viable path forward. UNI must confront not only declining state support, but a history of decisions that prioritize peripheral programs ahead of what President Benjamin Allen rightfully describes as UNI’s strengths: undergraduate education, a liberal arts core, and K-12 teacher education.