Editor’s note: The following is a letter to the editor written by 2020 Wellington High School graduate Cameron Carter. To submit a letter to the editor, you can do so at sumnernewscow@gmail.com. Please provide a valid telephone number.

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Cameron Carter performing “Oklahoma” as a Wellington High School student.

To the editor:

I am very disappointed in my college’s leadership today. Very important people playing vital roles in the continuance of the Performing Arts at Southwestern College were unprofessionally laid off this morning via email, less than a week after the passing of a very important and influential man both for the Winfield community and even more so in the performing arts community in Winfield. Shortly after these layoffs, students were made aware that all performing arts majors and minors would be discontinued after the completion of this academic year. These actions were falsely described to students as a positive thing for the college.

These actions are an attempt to save the college from financial burdens that have been built for years. Faculty who have not been laid off have also not been receiving retirement benefits for the entirety of this school year. The college has been in bad shape for a long time, and now that those in charge are deciding to take action, students in performing arts are paying the price.

One of the main causes of this financial burden is the terrible student retention rate Southwestern College has. Only 47 percent of students stay at Southwestern after their first year. This is largely due to an overwhelming dependency on the athlete population at the school. Around 90 percent of the student population at Southwestern are athletes. Hundreds of freshmen each year come to the school being promised playtime, and these promises are rarely met, causing many to leave the college, commonly without paying their bills. I witness this very frequently as a resident assistant in the freshman boy residence hall.

It’s not uncommon news for me and other RA’s to hear, “By the way, one of your residents will be leaving the school tomorrow.” Now looking at students spending most of their time in the Darbeth performing arts building, performing arts majors, minors, and other participants were confirmed by the President of Southwestern College, Liz Fromgen, to have one of the highest retention rates. This is not an attempt to start an athlete vs. non-athlete feud but to bring out the fact that the financial issues the college continues to face can begin to be resolved by strengthening other aspects of the college outside of athletics, not destroying an entire campus community completely.

The decisions made today will only worsen our retention rate. The past few weeks, the performing arts have been holding visitation days for several high schools, with many expressing interests in coming to Southwestern mainly because of the passion displayed by the faculty members that just lost their jobs. Many of these once-excited high schoolers will now choose to go somewhere else or end up leaving early once they are here. Also, many current students majoring in the performing arts will likely leave the school. For faculty that were just laid off but finishing out their contracts, their passion for recruiting students to come to Southwestern next year has likely plummeted.

President Liz, during a meeting with those affected by this decision, went on to say that the decision was largely made due to the lack of students who are officially majoring in the performing arts. Unfortunately, she has failed to realize that the smaller class sizes are one of the major reasons many performing arts enjoyers decide to complete their undergrad studies at Southwestern. At larger universities that have larger performing arts programs, it is harder for those to step foot on the stage. At Southwestern, everyone was given a chance to be a star.

Everyone has the opportunity to have a role in the plays. Everyone could be seen on the choir stands instead of being a blur among hundreds of voices. If students were involved in some of these decisions, these points would’ve been mentioned. On Southwestern College’s website, a quote about President Liz says, “It’s clear that students are at the very heart of her decision-making. She is focused on fulfilling the college’s promise to each student and honoring the power and value of liberal arts.” Liberal arts, unfortunately, are not being valued, and the students at the heart of these decisions are now brought to tears, being given the choice of choosing a new major or going somewhere else.

I predict these decisions will also have a domino effect causing other faculty members to quit due to the unfair treatment of their coworkers and friends along with the realization that they are likely next to be laid off. Rumors about faculty members leaving are already spreading around campus, not just in the performing arts. Students were informed that the faculty members would be offered an alternate position, no longer as faculty, but as staff, so the choirs, musicals, and orchestras would still happen on a participation level but no longer at an academic level. I believe this is disrespectful to those who have dedicated decades of their lives to teaching students and helping them along their path to a real career in the performing arts field.

Performing arts have never been the most profitable, but it is just as important as any other activity or major on campus. The students involved are passionate and hardworking and flourish despite involvement not being as high as other departments at the school. We are a liberal arts school, and Southwestern is attempting to leave the art behind. Southwestern instead finds it financially reasonable to dump funding into adding another sport, female flag football, taking on so-called “good debt,” building a brand-new residence hall building, and adding an honors program that will raise student’s tuition for those involved when Southwestern’s tuition is already one of the highest in the state of Kansas at around $40,000 a year. Don’t get me wrong, some of these things are not bad ideas on their own, but not at the expense of an entire department being gutted, and not during a time the school is struggling financially.

I’ve loved the Liberal Arts aspect of Southwestern. I’ve loved that I have been able to be involved in the performing arts while being a science major. I’ve loved the one-on-one time I’ve been able to have with my professors that I would likely not be able to have at a larger university. I understand that tough decisions have to be made when an institution is in as much trouble as Southwestern is today, but the decisions made today have made it clear to me and others involved in the performing arts that not all students and faculty are thought of and cared for equally. Out of eight majors and minors being cut, six of them were related to performing arts.

“Be a builder.” President Liz’s line to make us feel safe amidst all of the chaos and cuts around the school. The mound builder spirit preached on campus has been shown to only be recognized and appreciated in groups large enough to carry the boulders rather than those who can only carry pebbles.

I hope future decisions consider and involve the ENTIRETY of the student body and that it is not too late to reverse the decisions made today by those in higher leadership roles at Southwestern College.

Thank you for reading.

Cameron Carter

Wellington.

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