2008 Woodie Awards
Spotlight on WPU Theatre Budget Cuts
Amanda Flaherty
Issue date: 12/7/06 Section: Top Stories
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For students involved with the Performing Arts Theatre Series at William Paterson University, the start of the fall semester is usually filled with excitement for the upcoming shows at the Hunziker Black Box Theater and the Shea Center for Performing Arts. This year, however, that excitement was replaced by disappointment when the group received some bad news.
"Four days before we returned to school, we received an e-mail telling us the PATS (budget) had been drastically cut by about 85 percent," said Caitlin Grogaard, vice president of The Pioneer Players, a student theater group.
Ed Matthews, a faculty member who oversees the Pioneer Players, said the money is now being put more toward the Jazz Series, and to fund more touring productions. He said the cut in the PATS budget also lessens opportunities for those majoring in communication with a concentration in theater.
In response to the PATS budget cut, the students involved in the program started a "Save the Theatre" campaign. Each member wrote a letter to the WPU administration, and circulated petitions around campus. When all was said and done, the group had 50 letters and 800 signatures showing support for what it had lost.
With those items in hand, Grogaard and her group attended a WPU board of trustees meeting in September.
"There were more students attending that meeting than there were at the meeting about the raise in tuition," she said.
Grogaard said she and her group spoke to the board about why the PATS budget should not be cut and explained that many students are involved and dedicated to this program.
"The board members asked us questions and seemed interested in the issue," she said. "But then there was nothing; no answers, no solutions."
That is where the issue stands today. Grogaard said all she can do for now is remember the good times she had, and continue to tell anyone who'll listen what a good program it was.
Meghan Reardon, president of the Catholic Campus Ministry, sees the Pioneer Players fighting the budget cuts as something positive.
"Four days before we returned to school, we received an e-mail telling us the PATS (budget) had been drastically cut by about 85 percent," said Caitlin Grogaard, vice president of The Pioneer Players, a student theater group.
Ed Matthews, a faculty member who oversees the Pioneer Players, said the money is now being put more toward the Jazz Series, and to fund more touring productions. He said the cut in the PATS budget also lessens opportunities for those majoring in communication with a concentration in theater.
In response to the PATS budget cut, the students involved in the program started a "Save the Theatre" campaign. Each member wrote a letter to the WPU administration, and circulated petitions around campus. When all was said and done, the group had 50 letters and 800 signatures showing support for what it had lost.
With those items in hand, Grogaard and her group attended a WPU board of trustees meeting in September.
"There were more students attending that meeting than there were at the meeting about the raise in tuition," she said.
Grogaard said she and her group spoke to the board about why the PATS budget should not be cut and explained that many students are involved and dedicated to this program.
"The board members asked us questions and seemed interested in the issue," she said. "But then there was nothing; no answers, no solutions."
That is where the issue stands today. Grogaard said all she can do for now is remember the good times she had, and continue to tell anyone who'll listen what a good program it was.
Meghan Reardon, president of the Catholic Campus Ministry, sees the Pioneer Players fighting the budget cuts as something positive.
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