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University permanently barred from enforcing vaccine mandate and will have to pay legal fees of four female, Christian student-athletes.Western Michigan University is permanently barred from enforcing its COVID-19 vaccine mandate against student athletes and will pay nearly $35,000 in legal fees under a consent judgment issued Nov. 16 by U.S. District Judge Paul L. Maloney in Kalamazoo, Mich. Under an agreement signed by attorneys for the athletes and the university, Western Michigan agreed that the preliminary injunction upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit will be made permanent, ending the lawsuit brought Aug. 30 by two...

KALAMAZOO, MI -- More layoffs are coming for employees at Western Michigan University as leaders look to cut expenses amid the coronavirus pandemic. The university will implement staffing reductions in phases between now and September, said Jennifer Bott, provost and vice president for academic affairs, during a budget briefing published this week on Western’s YouTube channel. WMU could lose another $85 million in the next fiscal year because of the coronavirus pandemic, Bott said. Further staffing cuts will be part of overall cost-cutting efforts, she said, as nearly 70% of the university’s general fund expenses go to employee compensation. “We...

Are goats taking jobs from union workers? Noe Hernandez , Battle Creek Enquirer Published 1:42 p.m. ET July 6, 2017 | Updated 14 hours ago 636349422166184578-goatherd-large-ngooch.jpg (Photo: Nick Gooch/courtesy of Western Michigan A battle is brewing at Western Michigan University this summer between a group of hungry goats and a labor union. The 400-member American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees has filed a grievance contending that the work the goats are doing in a wooded lot is taking away jobs from laid-off union workers. "AFSCME takes protecting the jobs of its members very seriously and we have an...

Bush's immigration plan will have many negative effects By Matt Hall Opinion Columnist January 26, 2004 President Bush's plan to allow our nation's estimated 8-12 million illegal immigrants to legally work is by far the most dangerous proposal of his administration and maybe even the most irresponsible presidential initiative in the average WMU student's lifetime. The new plan, announced earlier this month, calls for matching any willing U.S. employer with any willing worker. This means that if an employer has a job opening and can find no American citizen to take the job for the pay offered, employers are...