Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Higher education Will the plays go on at Arkansas Tech?
Posted by Max Brantley on Tue, Oct 4, 2011 at 6:54 AM
I continue to receive concerned letters from friends of the Arkansas Tech University theater program about the future of the program. I hope to have something more definitive from the school administration later today.
The theater workshop was closed Sept. 9 because of fire safety concerns cited in a fire department inspection, this university news release notes. While the news release addressed safety concerns for students, it didn't address continuation of the theater program. It's a bit like fielding a football team without a field. Writes an alumnus:
There's no doubt or argument about the concerns listed. By law public buildings have to abide by the Fire Code, though I must admit some of the violations cited in this case seem rather silly. What came to pass was that the Tech Administration shut the Theatre Workshop down, being so bold as to do so in the middle of a class (I suggest asking one Mr. Moseley why he made that particular choice). The Workshop is now locked and no students or faculty are allowed inside. Conspicuously, the Museum located on the other side of the building, separated from the Workshop by a wall that does not extend to the height of the ceiling, remains open despite its adjacency to this now-deemed-dangerous space, this obviously unsafe hazard to the students' lives.You may notice the date on the above article is the 15th of September. Three weeks have passed by and nothing has been done to rectify the problem. Students who paid tuition to practice the art of theatre have no resources or suitable spaces with which to do so and the Administration has no plan to provide them with any. When the Theatre Program asked the Administration if it may reenter the Workshop to salvage costume pieces, scenery, and props for its upcoming production of Candide (slated to be performed in Witherspoon Auditorium), the Administration refused, citing that all of these resources must be reacquired. Decades of accumulated resources are off-limits. Why?
Good questions. We'll ask. You can't discuss theater at Arkansas Tech without remembering the infamous fuss in 2008 when Tech President Robert Brown tried to ban production of Sondheim's "Assassins" because a blank pistol was fired in the play. The ACLU intervened and the story drew international attention.
Theater program supporters fear for the future because of the latest development.
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Comments (23)
Showing 1-23 of 23
My brother teachs theater (think Tales of the Crypt) and I just emailed him the article at school and suggested that they suggest any theater students thinking about ATU reconsider other colleges. BTW, the daylight dress rehearsal of Tales is today for the walk through for the srtudents and press and the evening performance is a week from today, October 11th. UCA seems to have a good program as well as Hendrix and they are half the distance from The Rock.
Not get their equipment-what a crock! Maybe the firemen can help them get it out. Costumes cost a fortune plus all of the equipment. This is a way to kill the department by state regulation. I guess they need more money for foosball.
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I'll chime in and suggest that the new theater addition for the performing arts over at the High School will be pointed at as a potential site for such performances.
Of course this si the same project that has been nearly 4 years in the making, severe over costs encountered all at the expense of the property owners via the millage authorized by the sheeple voters.
Because the Theater Department is being forced to repurchase any supplies by being denied access to their costume shop, lighting accessories, props, etc... A place to donate has been set up:
Contact: Kristen Smith
Director of Tech Loyalty Fund
Phone: 479-968-0405
The account is Music Theatre Alliance #0936 and can only be accessed by the Producer and Music Director.
Thank you all for your support and concern.
If you feel inclined, please leave your personal word of concern and/or support for keeping Tech's theater alive via email:
TO: Mr. Moseley dmoseley@atu.edu
CC: Susie Nicholson snicholson@atu.edu, VP of public and student relations
As a student at ATU, this boggles my mind. It seems like the university should make a very big ordeal out of anything that so directly affects the education of so many! I feel like I'm paying for something that they can't/won't provide. I love this campus, and I love this program, but now I feel as though I've been living under some false assumption that the University would always have the student's best interest at heart. I understand fire code was broken, and that for students safety, steps must be taken to ensure the building is up to regulation. And yet, no steps have been taken. I don't understand how they shut the building down during class, and canceled initial meetings made to determine the best course of action. Or how it was justifiable for Mr. Moseley to take a vacation while this was happening.
Some numbers. I'm paying around $5,300 a semester to go to school at Arkansas Tech. That equates to somewhere around $275 a week, or $825 for three weeks. How is it justifiable to anyone to spend $825 on 3 weeks of waiting?? Immediate steps must be taken. This is not right.
It sounds like the University needs to be making solutions instead of creating problems. Did the University really shut down the building during a class? Also, if I recall the Museum is in the same building of the Techionery. And the Museum side is still opened but the building is so unsafe? Things are just not adding up here.
I wasn't a member of this department, but I did graduate from Tech. I enjoyed attending many shows there while an undergraduate. If the Biology Lab broke a fire code, would their lab equipment not be relocated? This seems highly suspect. I contribute financially each year to this institution, but I'll certainly re-think doing that again. I'm not certain why my Alma Mater would actively TRY to seem unsupportive of it's own students and faculty. Kind of mind-boggling.
None of this comes as a surprise. The administration has been aiming to rid the campus of the "arty people" for years. God forbid they embrace anything beyond football and farming.
Embarrassing. Way to lower the bar, Arkansas Tech. I'll take my money elsewhere, thanks.
The whole situation is ridiculous, and it should be addressed by the administration immediately. Students should not be paying for services they are not receiving. Come on TECH! You can do better!
Is this just another way to solidify Arkansas Tech University as a place to avoid if you have any sort of artistic interest? No wonder potential students flee to Hendrix, UCA, UofA, UALR, and Henderson. Why on earth would they want to attend a school that seemingly has no support for their course of study. If I were a parent, I'd definitely take issue with paying tuition for my child to be denied the education promised by the course catalog.
I'm a proud Tech alumni, but this makes me nauseated. ;( All I here out of Tech anymore is a plea for me to send them $$$. No, thanks. I paid my money on the way in and on the way out! And where does the money seem to be channeled? New athletic facilities. What a surprise. What a joke.
And before you say anything...yes, I meant..."hear" ... what can I say, I was tired when I posted the first comment, and I forget to proof. My apologies.
There have been an amazing number of extremely gifted theater and music graduates from ATU who have gone on to some very impressive positions all over the country and, even, the world. How nice for Arkansas Tech to boast that they have had graduates of such high caliber! Surely the institution will do all it can to continue to attract these quality students who represent our state so well! Please give these talented young people the space and equipment they need to acquire the fine arts education for which Tech has always been known to provide. _J.Vest
I have wonderful memories in the Techionary during the summer working on plays! Ardith Morris is an excellent teacher who has given so much life and heart to Arkansas Tech. It is disrespectful to Ardith as well as to the students to not only take away their equipment, but to do it with little to no communication about the future. The techionary has never been an ideal place to work on a play, but it's all they have. Tech should have created the theatre department a new space YEARS ago. Instead they let it be shut down. Russellville needs the arts. The high school barely has a theatre program, although I'm sure it will be growing with the new theatre.
This is a case of the greedy creep who runs Tech (Dr. Brown) trying to kill anything artistic (read: remotely controversial) in the hopes of appealing to the conservative deep pockets that live in northwest Arkansas. I spent four years at Tech, and went to the theater department's plays all the time. They always put forth a quality product with no budget to speak of and zero support from the administration. I hate to encourage Arkansans with an artistic bent to avoid Tech, because I learned a lot and made some life-long friends there; what I would say is that if you are artistic and considering going to Tech, take a long, long look at some of the other institutions in the state, preferably ones that aren't going to try and stifle you in the name of making a buck.
The press release put out by Tech is a pack of lies. Plus, they cite that only 0.3 percent of the student population are theater majors. Well, barely more than that percentage make up the football team. Clearly, the money is nowhere near equitable. This is a shame. Tech should be put on blast. There is a bigger story here, full of hypocrisy and discrimination. I hope more reporters like Mr. Brantley will keep digging.
I'm confused. If memory serves, the only emergency exit in the theatre workshop is also the only emergency exit for the museum. If the building was closed by the fire marshal, how did they get permission to have an exhibit opening there on the 23rd? and why is the museum still open.
Sounds like to me, a decision has already been made to more or less scrap the program. As a Tech alumnus, I am ashamed. Maybe the theater program isn't any bigger because they haven't invested in the one that they have.
From the press release:
“Our track record as an institution, both historically and in recent years, shows a clear dedication to preserving and promoting the arts on our campus,” said Watson. “With that said, we also have a responsibility to the people of Arkansas to invest wisely when allocating resources. We have averaged five graduates per year from our theatre program over the past six years.”
I have a brother in the Theatre department.
When Tech graduates theatre kids, those people have a phenomenal skill set because they have to put together shows with a very small budget and do it in the goddamn affirmitive action gymnasium.
The Theatre Program and faculty and students will survive, though in what form I cannot say. You just can't kill theatre. The Romans couldn't. The Church couldn't. The French couldn't monopolize it and the English just moved it outside city limits. We appreciate the support and we ask for nothing more than what we already have: our tools and workshop and classrooms. I don't think they'll take it all away. They could, it is within their power to do so, but it won't affect us and we will continue to practice our art.
Generally, theatre students are theatre students not by choice, but because there simply isn't any other choice _except_ theatre. I have tried other fields, but there is no other path my life will go down save for this one.
I go to this school, unfortunately. The problem with ATU is that money doesn't go anywhere unless it's to the sciences or to our (terrible) football team. Doc Brown wants to nix the theatre program because it isn't related to either of those areas.
I am a recent graduate of Tech with a degree in Speech; I absolutely loved my department and often did activities pertaining to theater. The blame game and name calling have got to stop! While both parties(Dr. Brown and Theater Dept.) I am sure have faulted each other, it is my deepest hope that a compromise can be made and a relationship can be mended for the students, staff, and faculty. I hope that both parties can take responsibilities for wrongs and work together for the good of the university, and most importantly the students.
Its hard to believe that there is a president of a state university out there with such antipathy toward the liberal arts. I just returned from a conference where the shutdown of the season and Brown's attitude toward the theater program was all the buzz - all negative I might add.
What kind of image is he creating for this fine institution? I can't believe that there is someone in a position of power that wields it so poorly.
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