Cheyney students and professors protest the proposed cuts in subsidies to the state education system.

Dr. Weldon McWilliams, a professor of African-American studies at Cheyney, deemed the cuts unfair. He noted the cuts to higher education funding were more than offset by a proposed 11 percent increase to corrections of almost $2 billion.

He said there was a contradiction in stumping for bringing 21st-century jobs to the state, then removing the tools for students to learn how to do those jobs.

“I think that in order to have these jobs and these investments in technology, you have to continually invest in education and these … students who are going to find these innovative ways to bring us into the future,” he said. “So it seems almost contradictory that on one hand you say we’re going to move towards these jobs and different technologies, but on the other hand you see a slash in education.”

Quick question: What is it about a degree in African-American studies that Prof. McWilliams thinks prepares students for jobs in a 21st century economy?

Chemistry, computer programming, engineering, certainly. But African-American studies? I don't think so.