As fall semester finally gets truly underway here at UM, and rain replaces the thick smoke that’s been obstructing our mountains and our airways the past few months, there’s something more than rain clouds hanging in the air.

Last week you could’ve sliced through the smoke with a bread knife.

This week, you could slice through the tension.

I am frustrated. Angry. Disappointed. Disgruntled. Dismayed. Disheartened. All single word synonyms to express this:

This is not the same UM that I applied for four years ago. Not the same UM I came to three years ago. Not the same environment that made me fall in love with my education and helped me discover what my passions were.

On September 14, the Montana Kaimin ran an article regarding the latest blow to the University of Montana’s quickly crumbling infrastructure (and reputation, if we’re being honest).

The Kaimin released the list of 33 lecturers facing non-renewal after the end of the fall semester. The Kaimin facebook page shared a post including a snippet of the article and the list of at-risk lecturers. At the time of this writing, the post had over 250 shares, along with hundreds more reactions and shares.

Clearly, people - students, parents, alums - are taking notice and they’re not happy with the administration's current direction and decisions.

These revelations, in light of an already contentious situation centering around UM’s budget crisis, have made for a strained environment on campus. Students, myself included, are worried, and rightly so, about what this means for their future at UM.

Will classes necessary to my degree be cut? Will my programs be cut? Will my departments be cut? If these cuts happen, will I even be able to finish my degree here or will I be forced to transfer?

It also begs the question: if such beloved faculty, such as Garry Kerr, a lecturer teaching Criminal Justice and Anthropology classes, which many students take (and enjoy!) as part of their general education requirements; or Erin Saldin, the professor students vie for to have as a Fiction Writing instructor, the Davidson Honors College Curriculum Coordinator, and one of the kindest and most genuine people I’ve personally had the pleasure of interacting with, what/who is next?

To lose any of these 33 lecturers would be a devastating blow to their students, colleagues, and departments.

However, the University of Montana answers to us, its students, alumni, and community as a whole. We are, after all, the ones who ultimately foot the bill.

I will remain frustrated. I will remain angry. I will remain disappointed and disgruntled and dismayed and disheartened. But I will not be quiet, and nor should you. The University of Montana is nothing without the people it is currently failing. It’s time to make our voices heard and demand that UM do better.