Following a month of phone calls and e-mails from members of thedance community and discussions among University of Memphisadministrators, the dance concentration has been suspended, notterminated.
"The support helped. I think it definitely swayed the decision,"said Holly C. Lau, associate professor in the Department of Theatreand Dance. "But it was still a fight."
The dance concentration will be put on a sort of suspension forthe next two years, when classes will be conducted to graduaterising juniors and seniors, but no new students will be admitted.Also, one of only two full-time dance professor positions wasterminated.
The reason for this suspension is two fold, said Dean RichardRanta of the College of Communication and Fine Arts.
"Part of the process is fulfilling a promise to the studentscommitted to the program and letting them graduate," Ranta said."It also gives us time to work on the implication of the loss ofthe position."
The full-time position was not filled at the time it was cut,but members of the Theatre and Dance Department had beeninterviewing candidates for the position when they found out thatit would not be filled. The cut leaves Lau as the only full-timefaculty member in the dance concentration.
However, there are other faculty members who are qualified toteach dance courses, including CCFA Associate Dean Moira Logan,Ranta said. And Lau added there would still be part-time dancefaculty members.
The possible termination of the dance concentration, which ispart of the theatre major, was brought up at the beginning ofApril, when members of the department seemed to think it was adefinite decision.
The issue received a lot of attention from the dance communityon a local and national level, with supporters sending e-mailssupporting the program, Lau said. U of M President Shirley Rainessent an e-mail April 25, saying the program would not be cut.
"We were gratified that the program received so much supportfrom the community," Ranta said. "It demonstrated the central coreof activity we've had here in this region and the impact theprogram has on the region."
The dance concentration at The U of M is the only certified onein the state of Tennessee. The closest one is in Hattiesburg, atthe University of Southern Mississippi.
At the end of the two-year suspension period, the program'senrollment would be zero, and it would be reconfigured to create asmaller program that better fits into the theatre major, Lausaid.
In the meantime, there will be discussions and research on thepart of the faculty to examine how the concentration can continueto operate. If the program is revived from the state of suspension,it will not have the same configuration, however, Ranta said.
"It's not a good option, but it is an option," Lau said. "Dancewould have been totally eliminated, but this allows a window."
However, Lau said she is disappointed that the program would notbe able to admit the 14 new majors, five of whom are men, who hadplanned to attend The U of M for dance in the fall.
Lau said she does not know what will happen at the end of thetwo-year period, but she remains hopeful.
"It's hard to predict," she said. "The University has to look attrimming down as a whole, and if we can stay within the budgetconfines, there could be support and things could get better downthe line."
Of course, Lau is disappointed at any cut her program must take,but she said the preservation of the program is the most importantthing.
"It's tragic," she said. "But we'll do the best we can topreserve what we say is an important art form in thecommunity."
