Amanda Crouse
News Editor
On Friday, Feb. 6, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in Lean Lecture Hall, Scot Council held a Town Hall meeting open to students, faculty and staff. The event was organized in response to the layoffs of 22 staff members on Feb. 5 — an unanticipated decision that left much of the College community in shock. Shortly after 5:30, the lecture hall had filled to the point of standing room only; for those unable to attend in person, the meeting was also recorded live via Zoom.
Before opening the discussion for audience participation, Scot Council Chief of Staff Tylynn Gault ’27 gave a brief address on the layoffs and provided a summary of the talking points from the emergency meeting led by President McCall on Feb. 5.
“President McCall made it clear that the College is struggling financially,” Gault said. “The College is trying to build what they call a healthy financial future … they are prioritizing protecting the core mission of the College and student experiences while trying to reduce costs.”
“The one question a student asked to President McCall that stuck with me was this: ‘How do you plan to continue supporting the students after removing the people who provide support?’” Gault added. “The problem isn’t that we’re working towards having a healthy financial future but that this moment did not happen in isolation,” said Gault.
Gault cited previous transparency issues regarding changes at the College: the restriction of ZWD listserv access, terminating partnership with the Posse program and the cancellation of the Missions and Outcomes meeting last semester.
“We are all stakeholders in this community,” Gault said. “And as stakeholders, we cannot continue to accept loss after loss without clarity, proper communication and being included in these conversations that shape our futures. We do not want investment without invitation.”
Following Gault’s speech, Scot Council representatives called on volunteers to add individual insights to the conversation. The first audience member to speak was a staff member at the College.
“My concern as a staff member who attentively attended all these meetings and heard over and over again the question whether there would be staff reduction, we [were] aware of the budget deficit a long time,” the staff member said. “And the answer was no, we are all pretty safe … this wasn’t communicated to us at all throughout the two and a half years we are here,” she added, speaking to the lack of warning from administration before the layoffs.
Next, Jack Freer ’26 shared his experience working at the Alumni Office and how recent interactions with staff shaped his impressions of the College’s budget management:
“There’s … kind of a corporate business model to how a lot of these processes happen … but nowhere within that process have I seen true effort to really include staff, faculty or students.”
One staff member in the audience contextualized the layoffs as part of an ongoing pattern of changes to the compensation and treatment of staff at the College.
“Last year things were avoided because the board approved to take out of the endowment to bring us back up to a balanced budget,” they said. “This year, there had been adjustments to our healthcare premiums going up to give the College a cost savings … we were also all informed that our vacation limit in bank was going to be decreased.”
They added that the staff committee recently started hosting all-staff meetings in an attempt to strengthen communication between colleagues and with the president. At the fall 2025 meeting, the staff member said, staff cuts were not discussed at length or mentioned as a serious possibility.
“There was a conversation around what is the right sizing when it comes to staff. She talked about that a little bit yesterday in between a lot of her messaging. But that’s the extent of the conversation.”
One faculty member in attendance encouraged students to make a list of grievances and demands, alongside a list of possible actions students could take to protest until their demands are met. Scot Council shared a QR code to a survey where students could list grievances and demands to be discussed at the next Scot Council GA meeting.
Students, staff and faculty members kept the dialogue going at a steady pace until 7:30. Scot Council President Flynn Cowie ’26 implored students to attend the next Scot Council meeting on Monday, Feb. 9 to continue the conversation.
