Last year, I planted a cherry tree in my yard. I’ve always wanted one, but cherry trees take time. You plant them knowing you might wait years before they bear fruit. For most of my academic life, I was too rootless for that kind of commitment. As an academic, I was never sure if I would stay anywhere long enough. But last year, after being promoted to full professor, I finally felt settled. Even more than earning tenure, that promotion meant the university had made a commitment to me, and I had made one in return.
I probably won’t ever pick cherries from that tree.
A month ago, I learned that the Chancellor is proposing the complete elimination of my department and all of our faculty positions, including tenured faculty. Why? That’s still unclear. How can they justify firing tenured faculty? Also unclear.
The University of Nebraska Board of Regents bylaws say a tenured (“continuous”) appointment is “terminable only for adequate cause, bona fide discontinuance of a program or department, retirement for age or disability, or extraordinary circumstances because of financial exigencies” (p. 46). So you’d think the university must be claiming “financial exigency,” right? That’s the usual clause invoked in true crises. But here’s the thing: they can’t.
The bylaws define “financial exigency” as “a bona fide, imminent financial crisis of such magnitude, caused by financial circumstances beyond the control of the Board of Regents, that within a particular major administrative unit normal operations cannot be maintained” (p. 62). That’s not what’s happening here. The administration has been open that this isn’t an emergency; it’s a structural deficit. They’ve been spending more than they bring in. That’s not beyond their control. That’s mismanagement.
Instead, they’re claiming “bona fide discontinuance of a program or department.” But what makes a discontinuance “bona fide”? The only clue in the bylaws says, “The Board may create, merge, or eliminate departments of a college or school when size or educational efficiency demands it” (p. 22). Here’s the kicker: that language, “merge or eliminate,” was added only in June 2025 (see the Board of Regents meeting minutes, June 19, 2025, p. 441). Just weeks before these cuts were announced. Convenient timing.
So let’s be clear: the only way the administration can justify firing tenured faculty is to eliminate their departments. And the only justification for eliminating those departments is to fire tenured faculty.
This isn’t a budget cut. It’s an end run around tenure.
If tenured faculty can be fired because the administration mismanages its own budget…
If the Board of Regents can rewrite the bylaws whenever it suits them…
If departments can be erased without meaningful faculty consultation…
Then tenure is gone.
The cherry tree in my yard will probably outlast my position at the University of Nebraska. I planted it because I believed I had roots here, that the university’s promises meant something. I was wrong.
If I’m not safe, you’re not safe.
Tenure is dead in Nebraska.
