On August 15, Bennington College announced via social media that 15 staff positions had been cut “as part of ongoing efforts to address budget cuts.” Employees that were laid off include those who worked in the Admissions, Institutional Advancement, Academic Services, Registrar’s and Provost’s offices, and Crossett Library.
Lorraine Atwood, Vice President for Finance and Administration, shared in an interview that the layoffs were a last resort in the college’s attempt to reduce its spending. She explained that the school is attempting to grow revenue by enhancing marketing, increasing fundraising, and through tuition, which includes the development of new programs, like the Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
Atwood expressed that colleges everywhere, including Bennington, are trying to adjust to the tenuous nature of government funding, higher costs of operations, and “the enrollment cliff.” Per NPR, due to a falling birth rate since the end of 2007, demographers have predicted a sharp downturn in college enrollment beginning nationwide in the Fall of 2025.
According to ProPublica, Bennington College lost $6,800,085 in 2023. 25.6% of the college’s expenses that year were attributed to wages and salaries, not including those of executive staff, which made up 1.6%.
Heather Price, who was let go after serving as the Associate Director of Enrollment Research and Analytics for the past six and a half years, expressed frustration with the college’s decision to eliminate her position. Price, who was working remotely, had personally financed a trip to Bennington from Tennessee for in-person meetings at the end of July. During this visit, she had expressed to her boss that she was considering relocating to Vermont and was given no indication that her job was at risk of being cut. Despite this, she was informed that she had been laid off only a few weeks later on August 10, after she had already started the process of selling her house.
When asked about the abruptness of the staff cut announcement, Lorraine Atwood said, “we gave a severance package in lieu of notice.” She explained that this “is in line with what other institutions do.”
The Registrar’s Office lost one of only three employees, Candy Cuthbert, due to the layoffs. Alexa Litchfield, Assistant Registrar, spoke about the emotional toll of losing someone from such a small staff, “we’ve overcome a lot of hurdles…because of how the layoffs were executed, there was no opportunity to pass along knowledge or current projects to the remaining staff who would inevitably need to carry on the work.” Litchfield and Registrar Carly Rudzinski had to restructure the management of the add/drop process, which was previously overseen by Cuthbert, just before the beginning of term.
Litchfield, who is part of the Bennington College United Bargaining Team, said that BCU has requested that the college’s management follow up with those who recently lost their jobs. She also shared that during discussions with the union, the administration refused to reinstate former employees who were willing to return to work.
Heather Price said although she hates that her position was cut, “I understand why Bennington is cutting back and I honestly hope it ends up helping the College get back to where it needs to be financially.”
Before the August layoffs, the college also offered staff the option of voluntary separation, meaning they could choose to vacate their jobs and take the severance package. One of the positions lost during this process was the Help Desk Coordinator. However, as Atwood explained, due to numerous complaints by staff and students, the college has decided to reinstate the role by eliminating costs elsewhere.
I was assistant to Brian Murphy when he ran the Buisness Office. If you kids had any idea how much money the college has you’d burn the place to the ground in anger. $6 million is nothing to them, nothing.