Last Friday: University of Arts in Philadelphia has announced it will close starting June 7. The: Philadelphia Inquirer reported that a sharp drop in enrollment had put the nearly 150-year-old school in such deep financial trouble that the accrediting agency suddenly revoked its charter.
Many students and teachers found out through: Questioner:and I got an email from the university just an hour later. Lauryn Ruffa rising junior in the dance program, says she initially thought it was fake news.
“The way it went was a complete shock,” says the longtime modern dance professor Kurt Howarthwho was once on the school finance committee. He says most faculty members knew the school was in “distress,” but all were blindsided by the extent of the financial crisis.
“We thought we would have a $2 million loss, which is pretty typical — a lot of schools go into deficit this time of year, waiting for next year’s tuition dollars to come in,” he says. “But this year, all of a sudden, it’s $12 million.”
Faculty members who have taught at the school for years are now suddenly out of a job. “I’m a 60-year-old professor in an ageist field,” Howarth says. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. But I’m more worried about my students.”
School of Dance faculty and Dean Donna Faye Burchfield maintain close contact with students. Other college dance departments such as Drexel University, Temple University, Point Park University, George Mason and Muhlenberg College have reopened their 2024 admissions specifically to UArts students. Ruff says she’s contacted a few programs, but it’s not a route she’s eager to pursue.
“The UArts School of Dance, in particular, is such a special and such a safe place for me and so many other students,” she says. “We’re all just trying to hold out hope that something will happen.”
Students and faculty are still fighting to keep the school open. Rising senior dance major Kathryn Bowerman have a lawyer draw up: email: which people could send to elected representatives whose contacts they have collected. New city Aleesha Uchtiv participating in protests on campus steps—when not helping pack studio equipment to send to the American Dance Festival, since nothing can be left in UArts buildings.
One possibility: The questioner: reports: that Temple University is now exploring a potential merger. However, Bowerman says they’ve been told it most likely won’t involve UArts programming or staff. Now they’re considering just going freelance instead of completing their degree at another school. “I have a big fear that going into my senior year, instead of it being this warm and beautiful experience, this might be the wrong community for me,” they say.
Fears and frustration are compounded by the perception that the university administration is not providing information. A town hall on Monday that was supposed to offer answers was cancelled 10 minutes before the start and the rector of the university Kerry Walk resigned the next day.
Several people contacted for this story say the biggest loss is the community fostered by the school, which has powered a number of Philadelphia dance companies and is a creative incubator with deep roots in the city.
“This is our home,” he says Kim Beers-Baileyfaculty member, UArts alumnus, and artistic director of Philadanco. “We love this institution. This is our family and it is worth saving. It’s more than just a building.”