By Jacob Clavijo | Editor-in-Chief
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Stunned attendees at the Academic Awards Ceremony watched as Alexis Eckert, the 2025 Sommerville Scholar, delivered a speech sharply criticizing the administration before a packed audience inside the Hall Campus Ballroom on Friday. Eckert, a senior from New Hampshire, was poised as she spoke about her time at the university, recognizing her love for learning and the impact that faculty has had on her success.
Whispers could be heard throughout the ballroom as Eckert’s speech took a noticeable turn, both in tone and in content.
“I want to say how incredibly disappointed I am in the state of the school that has given me so much, and the experience that students coming behind me are having,” Eckert stated.
Eckert began to critique the university’s decision to cut over 17 programs last spring, emphasizing the hypocrisy of a liberal arts school to cut programs such as theatre and music.
“This is the institution that no longer prioritizes languages and arts like theater and music, instead these programs and liberal arts faculty appear to be first to the chopping block,” Eckert said. “Over half of the programs cut were arts and humanities, and it stands to reason that the faculty cuts followed a similar trend, though many of you may know better than I.”
Eckert, a double-major in criminology-philosophy and physiological science, stated that the program cuts have hurt faculty-administration relations, leaving professors feeling unsupported by campus leadership.
“There is no excuse for the callous lack of empathy and support continuously displayed in the past year,” Eckert said. “This is the institution that has left those who remained to pick up the slack, created a climate of fear for their own jobs, and allowed stress, overworking, and a continued lack of support to detrimentally affect them.
Eckert, also a Westover Honors fellow, spoke about the unclear future of the honors program, which has been a topic of discussion in recent months following the announcement that the program would undergo a transformation at the end of the semester. She, like many other honors students, feels the university has handled the situation poorly, noting the lack of transparency from university administration.
“Students have sought understanding directly from our administration, but failed to receive any real answers,” Eckert noted.
Eckert’s speech was met with a standing ovation, as the audience applauded her remarks; the only student-delivered speech of the night.
View Eckert’s entire speech below: