Last week, faculty at Simpson was notified of layoffs and positions being fully eliminated due to budget concerns. These cuts were not announced to students nor were students aware of budgetary problems. At The Simpsonian, we believe in transparency, whether it is a shortcoming of Simpson or an accolade.

As tuition paying students, we deserve to know how our school is handling finances. This has an impact on the integrity of our school, no matter what staff is being cut, professor or otherwise.

Brushing financial problems under the rug is no small matter. They need to be addressed, and the student body needs to be aware of what is happening.

Simpson’s current curriculum focuses on engaged citizenship. This means becoming educated on issues, taking a stand and creating change. We cannot make a change at our own school if we are not informed about the problems Simpson is facing.

Let us be part of the solution. Let us give our input about what is and is not working. Do not treat us as an unimportant factor when making these decisions. At a minimum, inform us when major actions are taken, such as staff layoffs.

Keeping students in the dark about what is going on with staffing changes at the school does not benefit anyone. Keep us informed so we can give correct information to others, such as parents and alumni.

We do what we can as reporters to provide the facts, but students also need to hear it from the source themselves. We’re students, too. If you dance around the facts, then we can’t move forward.

As educators, there needs to be more than a public relations front. Teach us about what goes on in higher education leadership; it will only help us when trying to understand what truly happens when changes occur.

We get you’re trying to sell a brand, a brand of success. Obviously many of us support this brand – it’s why we’re still here. But that meaning of success applies to the community, and not informing the entire student body about changes in the community doesn’t really help the brand.

Simpson is our school. We want to be proud graduates, but putting a veil over what problems the school is facing does not lend itself to accumulating proud graduates.

We are the future donors. We are pending contributors to scholarship funds, future sports facilities and classrooms. We tell prospective students to go to Simpson or to look elsewhere.

Keep this in mind when altering the face of Simpson.