Happy August to everyone. I wanted to give a quick update about the goings-on relating to my post. First off, THANK YOU to everyone who provided responses here or sent messages of support for the UA Museum of the North. It has been so heartwarming to hear from our colleagues all over the world telling our Regents and Legislators how much our museum, and museums like us, matter to society. On Monday, the UA Board of Regents met for six hours to discuss how to move forward with the $135 million cut to our state appropriation and to directly address the Office of Management and Budget's proposal to zero out all state funding for research at UAF and the museum. Two separate regents on three different occasions spoke with passion about the value of the museum and our collections, for preserving our cultural heritage and for holding a long record of the natural and cultural history of Alaska. No other single university unit received such a positive and strong presence at the meeting. This is certainly in part due to the advocacy efforts of our colleagues. Thank you for your efforts.
Moving forward, we believe the immediate threat to the Museum is over for the moment, but sadly not completely eliminated. Cuts are inevitable and how much of a burden our museum will carry as part of the reduced funding to the entire University is not clear yet. Much of it depends on how our governor proceeds with the appropriation bill sitting on his desk. If anyone is still interesting in writing letters of support for the UAMN, we are encouraging them to be directed to our Board of Regents and the University President, Jim Johnson (contacts are found at the Museums Alaska news page referenced by Ember. As the University looks toward consolidation across our massive system, letters that speak to the value of the museum and our collections can only help us retain a spot of prominence and value in the new organization.
Thank you again for the show of support on such short notice. It is heartwarming to hear words from our colleagues across the globe who have stepped up to defend what we do. And because I take care of the History collections at UAMN, I am of course keeping copies of these letters to document this particular chapter in the history of the museum and the university.
With deepest gratitude and humility, we turn the page for our next phase of work.
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Angela Linn
Senior Collections Manager, Ethnology & History
University of Alaska Museum of the North
Fairbanks AK
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Original Message:
Sent: 07-30-2019 02:55 PM
From: Ember Farber
Subject: Threat to the University of Alaska Museum of the North
Thank you Angela for speaking up for University of Alaska Museum of the North and Alaska museums in sharing this important call-to-action, and to all who have responded! We have also been in communication with Museums Alaska and encourage museum advocates to follow the Museums Alaska news page and Facebook page for continuing updates, sample text and links to additional advocacy resources, including AAM's Legislator Directory which has contact and social media information for federal and state legislators.
#museumsadvocacy
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Ember Farber
Director, Advocacy
American Alliance of Museums
efarber@aam-us.org
Original Message:
Sent: 07-27-2019 03:29 PM
From: Angela Linn
Subject: Threat to the University of Alaska Museum of the North
Hello to my colleagues across the U.S. Forgive me for posting a direct link to my blog, but the University of Alaska Museum of the North is being threatened by political maneuvers of our governor and an invented financial crisis tied to oil profits. We are asking for help from anyone who is willing to write to Alaska's legislators or our Board of Regents to express the value of research-based museums. The governor's office is proposing that the University cut our entire allocation of state funding (basically 1/3 of our operating budget).
Here's a link to my blog post this morning. Please feel free to share. Monday there will be critical votes in our State Legislature and Tuesday the Governor's office is presenting to the Board of Regents their overreaching proposal to cut all research efforts at UAF and by extension, our museum.
We need your help communicating to our Legislators, the Board of Regents, and the Governor's Office why museums matter.
Thank you in advance for any support you can add to our efforts.
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Angela Linn
Senior Collections Manager, Ethnology & History
University of Alaska Museum of the North
Fairbanks AK
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