Forty-seven employees of Earlham College have had their positions eliminated or their contracts not renewed, according to an announcement from the president shared with alumni on December 19. Of the positions eliminated, 22 were of administrative faculty and 25 were of teaching faculty, including five tenured professors. O.H. Jackson Napier, co-pastor of Fairfield Meeting in Camby, Ind., provided a copy of the announcement to Friends Journal. Napier is an alumnus of Earlham School of Religion (ESR).
The cuts are part of a staff decrease totaling 109 employees, including 31 positions reduced due to a hiring freeze in place since May. Twenty-two of the 109 positions were vacated by voluntary separations and “incentivized retirements,” and nine positions were lost to recent retirements.
Employees losing their jobs received between six and fifteen months notice.
Tenured professors received longer notice to allow them to apply for new jobs based on academic calendars, according to Gretchen Castle, dean of ESR. Departing employees will have access to career counseling services. ESR is a Quaker seminary that is part of Earlham College.
As college leaders strive to address a $15 million cash flow shortfall, which has existed for the past ten years, they seek to comply with a board of trustees’ mandate to have a balanced cash flow operating budget by 2030, according to an FAQ section of the Earlham College website.
Although the college has a $400 million endowment, most of the funds are donor restricted and cannot be used for the operating budget, according to the Earlham College website.
In fall of 2025, Western Yearly Meeting approved a minute calling for better communication between it and Earlham College out of concern about such things as staffing cuts, changes to how Earlham School of Religion uses its endowment, and whether the dean of the seminary reports to the provost or the president.
“Western Yearly Meeting requests that there be no significant change in the school’s structure or use of designated funds and endowments for Earlham School of Religion until there has been transparent conversation between Earlham College and Western Yearly Meeting,” the minute states.
“There’s been a major lack of transparency with the public and especially with the Quaker public about decisions that are being undertaken both at the college level and how they relate to ESR,” said Tom Rockwell, associate superintendent of Western Yearly Meeting and co-pastor of West Elkton (Ohio) Meeting. Rockwell is an alumnus of ESR.
Western Yearly Meeting appoints, and approves the appointments of, some of the members of the board of trustees that governs Earlham College and ESR. ESR has a non-governing Board of Advisors which advises the dean on matters including recruiting students and faculty, programs, and fundraising.
An endowment from Eli Lilly, president of the eponymous pharmaceutical company, was valued at $93 million in June, The Richmond Palladium-Item reported. The funds carry donor restrictions on their use, and the college has filed a petition in the Wayne County Court for permission to spend up to $40 million over four years.
The court has not yet ruled on the petition, according to Castle.
The Consultative Working Group for a New Earlham, of which ESR Dean Gretchen Castle was part, was a 35-member committee tasked with addressing the long-term financial sustainability of the college. Two other members of the ESR community served on the committee, Castle explained.
Rockwell expressed concern that cuts and restructuring would decrease ESR’s ability to train Quaker pastors and other leaders.
Castle deferred questions on the Western Yearly Meeting minute to Earlham College president Paul Sniegowski. Sniegowski did not reply to this reporter’s requests for comment.
Castle plans to retire in June but stated that her departure is unrelated to the college’s staff reductions. She noted that she is nearly 70 years old.
Castle explained that ESR lost one and a half positions out of a faculty of eight professors.
Castle noted that the new dean of ESR would report directly to the provost instead of reporting to the president. ESR had approximately 60 students over the course of some years. The fall 2025 semester student head count for the seminary was 52, including degree-seeking and non-degree-seeking students, according to Earlham’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness.
Before the restructuring was announced, Napier expressed concern about the dean no longer reporting to the president.
“Perhaps the dean of the school of religion will no longer be a cabinet position, and they will no longer be able to veto decisions made at the cabinet level. And I understand that that veto power has protected the seminary many times in the past, and if that veto power were to be stripped away, it could potentially open the door for all kinds of cuts or other similar actions,” Napier said.
Asked about the dean losing veto power by reporting to the provost instead of the president, Castle said, “The dean will have a relationship with the president. I can’t imagine doing anything without talking to Paul.”
Correction, 3/4/2026: Earlham School of Religion has a non-governing board of advisors which advises the dean on matters including recruiting students and faculty, programs, and fundraising; it does not have an independent board of trustees, as originally stated. We have also added recent enrollment figures.
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