ALPINE, Texas — Voices are ringing in Alpine, Texas at Sul Ross State University.
Alumni, students, faculty and community members are showing how much this school, and it's fine arts programs, mean to them.
"I grew up down in Presidio, Texas, and in these small towns that are far away from any big cities we don't have as much opportunity to experience music, art, theater, and that's something Sul Ross always had," Omar Guerrero, Sul Ross alumnus said. "And Sul Ross gave me the opportunity to come study music when maybe I didn't have the best background."
Many of them say fine arts programs have completely changed their lives.
"I've met so many people that I will hold onto that friendship for the rest of my life because, I mean we grind together," Michael Amerson, Sul Ross incoming senior said. "We do all these things, we build, we sweat, we cry just to express this thing, this love, this passion with other people and it changes lives. I don't know what we'd do without it."
These past and current fine arts students are fighting back against a committee that was put together this spring by the university to help improve the school and make their budget more flexible.
These West Texans say these majors translate to what supports their economy.
"We get tourism and it all comes from art," Guerrero said. "You walk around town, there's murals, we have our art galleries and in those art galleries there's art displayed by professors, by students, by former students and it just keeps growing and growing, and this will put a stop to the amount of artists coming into town."
So why is this happening?
The university's president of 1 year says he wants to make sure the school is staying current and making it an even more well-known university across the state.
"Over 85% of our budget is already fixed," Pete Gallego, university president said. "They're fixed costs, they're either salaries, we're still paying notes on our residents halls or the improvements to our athletics facilities or our utilities. They're fixed costs, so if you want to be able to invest in new programs, if you want to be able to invest in new technology, then you have to have some budget flexibility."
Students believe there's a better way of going about this challenge the school is facing.
"We can fundraise, we can get help from other people, that's not a problem at all," Amerson said. "And if we can just come together, together with a plan, we can move mountains."
According to the president, a decision will be made sometime next month in July and faculty and staff will be notified accordingly.
If tenured, professors will have an additional year left. If adjunct, they'll have to start looking for a new job.