A growing list of Duke community members are demanding President Vincent Price and top administrators take a voluntary 25% pay cut as part of the University’s ongoing cost-cutting efforts.
Two dozen groups across the Triangle have signed a “Duke, Don’t DOGE!” letter urging “an immediate halt” to the University’s layoff measures, and more than 120 community members have signed a petition calling for salary cuts among highest-paid administrators. The American Association of University Professors echoed similar demands in President Todd Wolfson’s May 27 letter to Price.
“[A voluntary pay reduction] is a concrete act of solidarity that would materially contribute to preserving jobs and maintaining the quality of education and services that define our institution,” the letter reads.
The letter and petition come in response to Duke’s rollout of a voluntary separation incentive program (VSIP) and amid a June 5 announcement from Price that introduced voluntary retirement incentives and “likely” involuntary staff layoffs.
In the face of potential federal funding losses, the University set a total cost-reduction target of $350 million, or 10% of its expense base. The VSIP was launched April 30 in an effort to “mitigate the scale of an involuntary reduction in force,” but Executive Vice President Daniel Ennis noted that the 10% reduction would be difficult to achieve without “significant impact on employees.” Under VSIP buyouts, eligible workers will receive compensation in exchange for a three-year separation from the University.
University administration did not respond to The Chronicle’s request for comment in time for publication.
‘Duke, Don’t DOGE!’
The “Duke, Don’t DOGE!” letter calls for a 25% pay cut to administrators earning over $1 million per year, and a 10% pay cut to those earning between $1 million and $500,000. It also demands that the University “immediately halt” its summer 2025 layoffs and hold budgeting sessions open to the broader Duke community.
According to the letter, Duke is adopting a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) approach, downsizing an essential workforce in the name of strategic realignment and cost-cutting.
The letter alleges that the VSIPs and other layoffs disproportionately impact the most vulnerable staff while Duke’s biggest earners — top administrators and athletics personnel — “continue to pull six- and seven-figure salaries.” It added that “those with the greatest financial security” have an obligation to support employees who are losing their jobs, housing and immigration status.
“This is not about scarcity. This is about priorities,” the letter reads. “If this crisis is real, let its burden be shared equitably — not dumped on the backs of staff, grad workers and precarious employees.”
The letter cites the institution’s $11.9 billion endowment, Duke Health’s $284 million acquisition of another medical facility in early April and a $2 billion joint venture children’s hospital with UNC Health as evidence of an inequitable distribution of resources between Duke’s top administrators and other employees.
“Duke, Don’t DOGE!” also lists the 29 University and Health System administrators earning over $500,000. The letter estimates savings of roughly $6.6 million if administrators agreed to the proposed salary cuts.
Among the signatories of the letter include the AAUP, Duke Graduate Students Union, Duke Respect Durham and seven other local employee unions. In total, 24 organizations have signed on.
“When those who carry out the core labor of the university are placed in precarity, the entire academic enterprise is undermined,” the letter reads.
‘Duke Administrators Must Take A Pay Cut’ petition
The petition, which was organized by Foxx Hart, Trinity’ 24, and gathered over 120 signatures within a week of circulation, urges Price and University administrators making more than $500,000 annually to take a temporary 25% pay cut. The petition calls on Price and administrators to advance the University’s educational mission “instead of prioritizing their private financial gain at the expense of Duke and its faculty, staff and students.”
According to Hart, the call for Price to take a voluntary salary cut came after President of Harvard University Alan Garber pledged he would take such a cut for fiscal year 2026 amid significant federal funding losses. Hart sought to “challenge Price’s rhetoric about sacrifice,” referring to Price’s June 5 announcement that reductions in spending necessitate that Duke employ fewer people.
“I’m not interested in saving particular jobs or particular people, but I am interested in seeing some institutional accountability,” Hart said. “… Taking a pay cut is an opportunity for Duke to own up to it and ameliorate the bad damage that’s coming through.”
Hart added that Duke’s measures to downsize its workforce will aggravate layoffs taking place at other public agencies, leading to adverse economic consequences across the Triangle.
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Signatories of the petition include Duke staff members, students, alumni and Durham community members.
| News Editor
Claire Cranford is a Trinity junior and news editor of The Chronicle’s 121st volume.
| Managing Editor
Lucas Lin is a Trinity junior and managing editor of The Chronicle’s 121st volume.