About 50 people gathered at Fenton Hall around noon to hold signs reading “We demand fair funding for Fredonia.” UUP Vice President for Academics Alissa Karl did interviews with Buffalo TV stations as the protesters stood on the steps of the hall in the background.

SUNY Fredonia President Stephen Kolison’s office is in Fenton Hall, and at one point he walked past the protesters and into the building. He appeared friendly, but did not linger.

After around 20 minutes the protesters left Fenton Hall for a “silent march” around campus – silent so classes wouldn’t be disrupted, Karl said.

“We have a couple of campuses that are really in peril right now,” she said. “Potsdam, up in the North Country, is facing major, significant cuts that were announced earlier this semester, and it looks like Fredonia is next on the list.”

Protesters begin a "silent march" around the SUNY Fredonia campus as part of a rally demanding more state funding for the university in December.

Karl continued, “We’ve been out in force … to get the message out that SUNY has record funding in this year’s state budget, they have simply chosen to not allocate it to the campuses that need it the most.

“Cuts don’t need to happen. We have funding … SUNY just needs to spend it where it’s needed.”

SUNY Fredonia has reported an $18 million deficit and is one of 18 state university campuses with multimillion-dollar deficits projected for 2024.

In August, Kolison distributed a memo to campus staff noting $10 million in unspecified cuts were coming at the university over the next five years.

When adjusted for inflation, Albany’s funding to the SUNY system has declined 39% since 2008-09. That’s equal to $7.8 billion.

Meanwhile, fewer students means less revenue, and SUNY Fredonia has seen an enrollment decline. The campus has gone from 4,405 students in fall 2018 to 3,236 currently — a decrease of 26.5%.

Karl said at Tuesday’s rally, “”We’re out here to send a message that we demand fair funding, and also… that any cuts to programs are an assault on the unionized labor that runs our campuses.”