To be or not to be

The state-of-the-art building is there. The students and faculty are there. The interest is there. So what’s missing from the University of Maine department of theater and dance, which was cast in September in the preliminary stages of “academic program suspension”?

Last year in a requested review, an outside group of professional experts applauded the quality of the faculty and students, but was aghast at departmental infighting, professional grudges and lack of administrative leadership and vision. No where does the review indicate that the program should be discontinued. Indeed, the review adopts a hopeful tone because of the quality of the program and students, and because UMaine offers the only graduate degree in theater and dance in Maine and neighboring states.

Yet the administration has taken dubious steps toward suspension. A subsequent review, promised to appear in the spring semester, could also be the first steps in eliminating the department. Other UMaine programs have been suspended and eliminated in the past, but they were deemed obsolete. The theater and dance department is alive and kicking. Ask anyone who attended the recent production of “Noises Off.”

Based on the report, it is clear there are slings and arrows hitting the program. The position of technical director, one of five vital faculty positions within this small department, has already been left unfilled for two years and there is no plan to fill it. There is no full-time dance instructor, another gap in leadership. And since the opening of a $6 million performing-arts facility in 1997, no clear departmental mission has sought to keep pace with the future.

Nevertheless, the students know the play is the thing and a group of them recently said they were so committed to learning about theater that if the program disappeared, they would find a way to perform in a parking lot. They are intrepid about following in the footsteps of alumni, including a Tony Award-winning lighting designer, an artistic director of a puppet theater, the executive director of a statewide performing arts network and countless working actors, teachers and designers.

The administration, which has claimed to be a champion for liberal arts, should resolve these conflicts in a way that preserves, improves and revitalizes a department so integral to a rich and varied academic environment. After all, the liberal arts increase the compassion and creativity of would-be doctors, lawyers, scientists, athletes and presidents – not to mention the citizens who benefit from theater performances and dance recitals. The arts, everyone has been reminded in recent months, help us to understand ourselves as dynamic beings. It has helped us mourn and helped us recover from mourning. It has dared to make us laugh during a dark period.

Even in times of peace, theater and dance keep up this mission, and such programs are one of the many starting points for leaders who make humane connections with individuals, communities and countries. UMaine administrators concerned with budgetary constraints in an underfunded program should also be worried about the larger message the flagship university sends when it jeopardizes a valuable liberal-arts program.