LARAMIE, Wyo. — Dirt being moved for construction at the University of Wyoming and rigs drilling for natural gas in sagebrush country go together like the school colors: brown and gold.
A new library, college of business, luxury boxes at War Memorial Stadium — those are just a few projects out of the more than $250 million in essentially debt-free campus construction at the university since Wyoming entered a gas boom eight years ago.
“As the economy of the state of Wyoming has prospered, so too has the university,” President Tom Buchanan said recently.
And as Wyoming’s economy has begun to suffer, so too has its only public university.
University trustees recently reduced state-funded spending 10 percent and eliminated 45 positions. Programs cut included the university’s Geological Museum, putting museum director Brent Breithaupt on a job hunt after nearly 30 years of field research and tending to dinosaur skeletons.
“I’m amazed and confused by this. I don’t understand it,” Breithaupt said. “The museum has shown that it is a very valuable resource to the University of Wyoming that supports its core mission statement of service, research and outreach.” Private funds will reopen the museum part-time, but the museum won’t be staffed and Breithaupt isn’t being hired back.
The university has been in an enviable position since 2000. Annual state funding has doubled to $181 million. Assets of the university foundation have more than tripled to $381 million. After those increases, this year’s cuts, which will save $18 million, don’t add up to much.
But they raise bigger questions: How bad will the gas bust get and to what extent will it affect UW? “It is certainly a possibility there are future budget cuts on the horizon,” Buchanan said.
