On March 10, 2003 University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman proposed elimination of the entire research division of the University of Nebraska State Museum. This includes divisions of botany, entomology, anthropology, parasitology, and zoology as well as vertebrate paleontology. Here we attempt only to assess the impact upon the public, the university, and the profession of vertebrate paleontology should the Vertebrate Paleontology Division be eliminated. As the proposal now stands, two tenured curators, one collection manager, and three preparators and support staff would be terminated; all research and educational programs would be eliminated, and a museum specialist will be hired to oversee the moth-balled collection. These cuts number among an array of measures aimed to reduce the University of Nebraska's budget by $20 million; the state's governor has recommended even deeper cuts to the university.