Faculty in the College of Ethnic Studies were informed in a meeting this morning about upcoming budget cuts that would drastically reduce the amount of classes available to students for the upcoming fall semester.

Shannon Deloso, the Ethnic Studies representative for Associated Students, Inc., attended this morning’s meeting and was upset to hear the news.

“Bottom line, the College of Ethnic Studies is completely underfunded, and we are one of the smallest colleges on campus right next to the College of Education,” Deloso said. “When they do these budget cuts all across the board, we’re going to be drastically affected by it; they’re not doing the cuts in an equitable way.”

Lecturers make up 40 percent of faculty in the College of Ethnic Studies, Deloso said, and would be at risk of losing their jobs if the proposed cuts hold. Ethnic Studies students on campus have already began to organize and plan to hold a student-only forum next Tuesday in the Ethnic Studies and Psychology building, Room 116 from 1-2 p.m.

“We need to make sure that our president and our provost understand what we’re losing if this happens,” Deloso said.

In addition, another meeting that will include both students and Ethnic Studies faculty will be held in the same room next Thursday at 9 a.m. President Leslie E. Wong will attend Thursday’s meeting after a group of students, including Deloso, walked directly into the administrator’s office earlier today in order to demand his presence.

“We hope that we can get together and find a common ground rather than just have everything taken away from us,” Deloso said. “This school prides itself on Ethnic Studies and social justice, so these cuts are such a contradiction.”

Jonathan Morales, the University Director of News and New Media, provided the following statement in response.

“While next year’s budget is still being finalized, there is no plan at this time to reduce the budget allocation for any college in 2016-17,” according to Morales. “We anticipate that the funding for each college in 2016-17 will be similar to funding provided in 2015-16.”

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that 40 percent of lecturers could lose their jobs as a result of the proposed budget cuts. The article has been updated to reflect that 40 percent of the College of Ethnic Studies faculty is comprised of lecturers, whose jobs would be in danger as a result of the proposed budget cuts. Xpress apologizes for the error.