Cutting the Arts is Shortsighted
A Reflection on Jacksonville University Cutting their Music Program
I lived in Houston, TX for a decade. I love that city.
When Houston needed to restructure and advance their economy they diversified. Houston went from primarily oil and gas to a beacon in the medical field and a thriving arts hub. There are multiple universities and colleges in the Houston metro with thriving music and arts programs. One of their secrets is preparing students for the real world with whatever degree they chose.
When I graduated from University of Houston with my DMA in Music, the keynote address focused on taking the skills and the gift of an arts education into the world. It wasn’t about just performing or teaching. We were nurtured and taught that our skills, our brains, our passions matter for society.
I currently live in Jacksonville, FL and last week was saddened and dismayed to see a local private university eliminate their music department (along with a few other programs). In one swoop Jacksonville University eliminated their music program. All faculty in music has been fired and students are left out in the cold with more questions than answers.
JU president Tim Cost said: “We had to look at how the students were looking at things like glassblowing, world arts or languages. They are taking much less of those historically, and we had to look at that…Music, theater and the humanities are what we are talking a good deal about today, and there’s an increased emphasis on health care, business and technology, which I think reflects a lot of what is going on in Jacksonville.”
Big Red Flag here! This is NOT it. Cutting music and the arts in general is shortsighted and not going to play out the way they think it will.
As someone who has been a lifelong musician, an advocate for the arts, an arts non-profit leader, and a music educator for 15 years, I can tell you from personal experience that musicians- amateur and professional- benefited from their music education.
You want more doctors to come to Jacksonville?
You want more health care, business, and tech majors?
Guess what? I bet they were in their band, orchestra, or choir in high school. If they didn’t have access to public school programs I would almost guarantee they took lessons outside of school. I would also put money down that they would want a thriving arts community after graduation…not just for their own enjoyment, but for what it does for our development and health! Research and documentation of the benefits of learning music goes back decades.
In Houston, there is a thriving and award winning community orchestra called: The Texas Medical Center Orchestra. The TMC Orchestra “is one of the very few orchestras with its origin in the health professions. Most of the members are health professionals who have a dedication to music that goes beyond their daily occupations.”
Music beyond their daily occupation.
Music beyond their occupation.
Music can be an occupation, but it is also a joy of life and necessary!
There are many examples of schools that have orchestras for music students and for non-majors (some as a class and others as a university group). The non-major groups are for people studying in other fields who desire a place to continue their music performance and education. Some schools allow non-majors to audition and play in the orchestra as well. Here is a small list of universities with those types of ensembles & campus orchestras:
This is just a handful of universities providing an outlet for music for the future doctors, lawyers, and tech folks some programs so desperately want. These schools are getting right and JU is not. Plain and simple. Cutting the music program at JU does not just impact one group of people, it impacts our entire cultural ecosystem.
When an arts program gets cut, it does not just impact the professors who were unrightfully fired, or the students who will not be able to finish their degrees as planned, or the buildings that once were filled with visual and auditory arts- it impacts the other students at the school and the community at large. Sad day here in Jacksonville indeed.