lorman — Sixty Alcorn University faculty and staff members lost their jobs Wednesday, and university officials have plans for more cuts this week.

Alcorn Vice President of Development and Marketing Stephen McDaniel said approximately 60 faculty and staff contracts were not renewed on Wednesday, and expects more of the same this week.

While McDaniel said he did not know how many more contracts would not be renewed, he did say the number would not exceed the 60 let go Wednesday.

While faculty and staff were cut from the Lorman, Natchez and Vicksburg campuses, the majority of the cuts came from Lorman, he said.

“The purpose of a university is education,” McDaniel said. “And we’ll do anything we can to maintain educational integrity.”

McDaniel said financial cuts on the state level contributed to the school’s actions.

The university’s $61 million budget was cut by no less than 5 percent in the past year, McDaniel said.

“We have budget constraints and we still have to provide an education for young people,” he said. “This is not something we wanted to do.”

McDaniel said the university has no intention to, nor have they discussed, closing any of the school’s three campuses.