We, the undersigned, as members of the Delta State community, believe that the future of Delta State University is at serious risk from the repercussions of the economic crisis. We hereby petition the Commissioner and the Board of the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning to pursue a reasonable course of action for Delta State University that allows us to weather the crisis without losing academic programs or otherwise driving away students and employees. We believe that irreparable damage will be done to DSU, to Cleveland, and to the Delta if the proposed cuts and formula re-balancing are allowed to proceed using the strategies that have been pursued thus far. 

We petition the IHL, first, to avoid cutting academic programs if at all possible; second, where academics must be cut, to allow colleges and schools to decide how to cut them, preferably using a decision-making process that enfranchises academic working groups comprised of full-time, elected faculty. We believe that it is neither necessary nor wise to use the short-term fiscal crisis to reshape DSU for the long-term. We urge the IHL to do everything possible to enable DSU to not only survive but also to thrive, in the short term and in the long term.