Weekend Poll: Proposed Funding Cuts To The University Of Wyoming

The 2026 session of the Wyoming Legislature is slated to convene on Monday in Cheyenne.

One hot topic is a proposal to cut funding for the University of Wyoming. The legislature's Joint Appropriations Committee recently voted to cut $40 million from the UW block grants for the next two years. The college of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources and the College Of Education would be exempt from the cuts.

The JAC proposal also would not allow roughly $21 in new spending that had been proposed for the university

The Wyoming Freedom Caucus, a group of very conservative members of the Wyoming House of Representatives, has come out in favor of the cuts.

Arguments For The Cuts

While  caucus member Jeremy Haroldson says the idea that the proposed UW cuts are retaliatory is false, he does say there are concerns about some of the courses at UW.

In a video posted on the Freedom Caucus Facebook page,  Haroldson says ''What we are finding is that the gender studies is still there. This is eco-feminism. This is queer-theory training for students... we are seeing a huge discrepancy between what parents are telling me and what we are seeing at the university."

He says students are being told they can get a job at a salary of $83,000 from the coursework "but I'm not seeing that."

Haroldson points out that the university is largely taxpayer funded, and says these types of courses are not what Wyoming taxpayers want to pay for.

Some Freedom Caucus members also say the university needs to do a better job of focusing on educating students for jobs in Wyoming industries than is currently the case.

But UW spokesman Chad Baldwin, in an interview on the ''Weekend In Wyoming' program on a.m. 650 KGAB last weekend, defended UW.

UW Spokesman Defends The University

In regard to the idea that it is indoctrinating students, pointed to  a recent national survey found the student body at UW is the 7th most conservative in the country. ''So if there is any attempt at indoctrination going on, it's not working very well." Baldwin adds that he has worked at UW for 14 years "And I haven't seen any kind of all-out attempt to indoctrinate anyone."

On the subject of educating students for industries that are important to the state, Baldwin said ''I would argue that has been our primary focus forever and remains so." He says among other things, the university turns out a lot trained professionals in the ag and energy industries, two key sectors of Wyoming's economy

So what do you think? Should the proposed cuts to the UW budget be approved by the legislature? Take our poll and give us your opinion!