PROVO — Brigham Young University students will have one last chance to apply for the bachelor's of social work major before the program is permanently discontinued, university administration announced Tuesday. But students and community members who gathered Thursday to protest BYU's decision to cut the program want more.
"This is a step in the right direction, but it's only a piece of what we are fighting for," said Natalie Merritt, 20, who spent several months preparing to enter the major before she was told earlier this month the university would no longer accept applications. "This fight is about more than just getting students into the program. It's about supporting social work."
About 50 people gathered Thursday at Kiwanis Park, 820 N. 1100 E., to raise awareness about the social work profession.
"Social work is love made visible," read one picketer's sign.
"Our clients ignored once more," read another.
"A lot of people say social work isn't a profession," said Marc Gilchrist, 29, a first year master's of social work student. "They say it's not academic enough; we don't do enough research; we're just bleeding hearts."
But social workers get their hands dirty, he said, and that's what sets them apart from more research-based disciplines like psychology and sociology. "We advocate for social justice," he said. "That's what we're doing here."
The crowd marched from the park along 900 East. It was the closest protesters, who were denied permission to demonstrate on the private campus, were allowed to get to BYU.
But that didn't bother students.
"I like the fact that this is happening in the community rather than on campus," said Nathalie Staffler, a master's of social work student who helped organize the demonstration. "This is not just BYU's problem. This is a community problem."
Marty Matheson, program manager at Wasatch Mental Health, supported this view. He marched alongside students.
During his seven years working as a licensed clinical social worker at the facility, Matheson said he has been most impressed with students who started out in the business with a social work background.
"The social work students who intern and work professionally are by far more prepared to work in a clinical setting" than students who came from other disciplines, he said. "Their unique role is a hands-on approach, helping people day to day. That's something they learn."
BYU maintains the decision to cut the social work program is not an attack on the social work profession. The move was actually made in an attempt to strengthen social work at BYU by putting more resources into developing the master's program, said David Magleby, dean of the School of Family, Home and Social Sciences.
He agreed, however, that canceling the program just one day before new-major applications were due was not ideal for students. That's why he reconsidered.
"The more we thought about it, the more we thought, 'Let's err on the side of being fair,'" he said. "It's just the right thing to do."
Anyone who has completed or is currently enrolled in the prerequisite classes will be allowed to apply to enter the bachelor's of social work major until Dec. 12.
The university ordinarily welcomes 30 new students into the major each semester. But this year, Magleby said things might be a little more flexible depending on "applicant qualification."
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