JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A mother is speaking out after her son, a senior at Jacksonville University, was directly impacted by the recent faculty and major cuts. 

Jennifer Haddock is still in shock over the recent layoffs of faculty and major cuts at Jacksonville University on Tuesday. She told First Coast News her son’s major was cut.

“Honestly, it was pure devastation,” said Haddock. “He worked so hard.”

Jacksonville University laid off 40 of its faculty and ended dozens of tradition-bound majors, such as visual arts and music, impacting more than 100 students.

The president of JU said that 18 students whose degree paths were altered will receive a full tuition scholarship starting this upcoming semester, which will cover the tuition cost for the remaining time of their academic term. 

“I feel like if you’re gonna offer scholarships to 18 students, then you should offer every single one because not anybody in this program asked for this,” said Haddock.

But Haddock’s son, who is set to graduate in the fall, was not one of those 18 students selected. 

“You know he worked so hard to secure a scholarship, he started at you and asked him and you know it really wasn’t what he wanted and so he followed his passion and JU was the best when we toured It,” said Haddock.

Haddock said she has reached out to the university four times since the announcement to get answers about whether her son would get his scholarship taken away or not, and she still hasn’t heard anything back.

“Theater and arts kids, it’s a tight community. It’s there, you know, most days during production together 10 to 14 hours a day, so he’s not losing his program. He’s losing his classmates. He’s losing professors that he has built incredible bonds with,” said Haddock.

First Coast News reached out to Jacksonville University. They are closed due to the Easter holiday and we’re still waiting to hear back.