Fired Penn State football coach James Franklin’s nearly $50 million buyout is equivalent to about six years of budget at the university’s New Kensington campus, said English professor Andrea Adolph.

That stings, as Ms. Adolph and many of her branch campus colleagues brace for the upcoming closure of seven commonwealth campuses, including the New Kensington, Fayette and Shenango locations in Western Pennsylvania, which were announced earlier this year as the university looks for ways to cut costs amid enrollment shifts.

To Ms. Adolph, Sunday’s firing of the football coach — and the hefty pay he is now owed — are evidence that Penn State leaders have misplaced priorities.

“That kind of payout is just ridiculous,” she said. “It’s another wild, ‘let them eat cake’ moment.”

On Sunday, unive

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