Amid $14 million in budget cuts, UNH closes art museum, keeps DEI administrators

As it grapples with slashing $14 million from its annual budget, the University of New Hampshire recently shuttered its Museum of Art and announced it’s laying off 75 faculty and staff members to balance the books.

However the university has yet to publicly identify cuts into personnel dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion, which reportedly costs an estimated $1 million-plus in annual salaries.

Similarly, its Museum of Art operates at an estimated cost of around $1 million annually. It was shuttered in January due to budget cuts.

“It is unusual for an R1 university and a flagship land grant university to be without a museum and yet, here we are,” museum Director Kristina Durocher said in the statement announcing its closure.