St. Kate's to reluctantly drop music, theater…
St. Kate's to reluctantly drop music, theater majors that are down to nine students
Students sing outside St. Catherine University administrative offices Thursday to protest the elimination of music and theater majors. (Josh Verges / Pioneer Press)
By Josh Verges | jverges@pioneerpress.com | Pioneer Press
May 18, 2017 at 6:22 p.m.
St. Catherine University is pulling the plug on its music and theater majors after years of life support.
The two majors have a combined nine students, and three of them are graduating this month. Officials will see the remaining six through to graduation, but no additional students will be admitted to the program.
"As clear as this decision is, it's a very difficult one. You never want to see closing a major," said Alan Silva, assistant vice president and dean of humanities, arts and sciences.
Silva said the arts programs have struggled since before he became dean 10 years ago. In 2014, the school embarked on a two-year plan to better market music and theater while cutting costs and increasing revenue.
"They really just have not produced the result for us," he said. "We just don't have enough students in the program."
In cutting the majors, Silva said St. Kate's will continue to have a music and theater department with faculty teaching some of the more popular lower-level courses. And it is still looking to preserve some kind of choral performance or theater production, but with fewer opportunities than in the past.
"It's really about focusing on what we can do best at the highest quality in a very cost-effective way," he said.
As he spoke Thursday, about 20 students stood outside the administration building singing and reading testimonials about the value of the music and theater programs. An online petition defending the arts at St. Kate's has generated well over 1,000 signatures.
Shae Alcamo, a first-year music studies major who attended the Perpich Center for Arts Education for high school, acknowledged it "makes sense" to drop the majors. But she's been troubled by conflicting statements from university leaders about the future of the performances.
"They haven't given us a clear story and a clear plan," she said.
The changes will affect many students beyond the six majors.
Ashlee Herring, a sophomore and fellow Perpich graduate, is majoring in English and race and ethnicity with a minor in women's studies. But she said the arts programs have "meant everything" to her.
"Those are a vital part of my identity here on campus," she said.
Madelyn Douglas, a social-work sophomore from Andover, said she's made her closest friends in the arts and she credited stage performances with improving her public speaking.
"It's just helped me so much to come out of my shell," she said. "It's really been one of the best parts of my college experience."
Josh Verges | Education reporter
Josh has written about St. Paul public schools and higher education for the Pioneer Press since 2014, 11 years after the paper first published his byline as a University of Minnesota intern. He did a two-year stint on city government and crime in Austin, Minn., and spent seven years in Sioux Falls, S.D. covering crime and education, as well as editing. Josh was good at baseball once. Now he plays tennis against old men.
jverges@pioneerpress.com
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