Students rally at BOT meeting

On Monday afternoon, roughly 45 music, theatre and film students from the Center for Performing Arts collectively left their classes and made the 15 minute walk to the Driscoll Alumni Center. With four cameras rolling and microphones in hand, the students filed in to the Board of Trustees Finance Committee meeting to push for the disbursement of $2 million for the renovation of the CPA.

"The music department and the theatre [department] are really what gets the most attention from the community besides sporting events. They're [the community is] not going to go to a pharmacy school to just look at the labs, they're going to come to see our concerts," said Sam Maran, a sophomore majoring in music education and the student that helped organize the rally. "Right now the recital hall is just completely sub-par for lack of better words, and I can't really speak for the film [department] or anything but the part that I see when people walk in it's just, it's a complete turn off to the building."

UT President Lloyd Jacobs acknowledged the need for renovations to the CPA. According to Jacobs, the outside of the building is "not bad," but the "building is a mess inside."

"The structure is not bad, but the inside is very bad … doors don't fit and close properly, restrooms are substandard … so the inside needs some serious work," he said.

Following the testimonies of several students, the Finance Committee recommended that the issue of $2 million in renovations to the CPA be approved for consideration by the full board in March.

Some of the concerns from students include a lack of computers and technical equipment.

"I love UT, I'm so glad I'm here, I'm going to graduate this May and so I'm happy, but I would like for the future students to have better equipment, a better film place to be creative and I believe in our teachers and our film school," said Andrew Makadsi, a senior double majoring in film and communication.

Makadsi was one of several students who spoke during Monday's board meeting and stressed the need for a CPA that reflects the art and creativity of students at UT.

Many students left their Video II Production course taught by Holly Hey, an assistant professor in the Department of Theatre and Film, to rally support for the renovations at the board committee meeting.

According to Hey, there is approximately a 13-to-1 ratio between students and computers at the CPA.

"I have to break up classes into sections so I can accommodate the students in the lab," Hey said. "Because of this, there is a redundancy in the production course. It stymies what I can get through in a semester."

According to Hey, there was a "building blitz" at the CPA several semesters ago, which repaired the bathrooms and repainted the hallways.

"I don't teach my classes in the bathrooms," Hey said. "We need to be student centered and teach with enough technology."

According to Holly Monsos, associate professor and chair of the Department of Theatre and Film, students who utilize the CPA have outgrown the capabilities of the building.

"There is a lack of upgrade," Monsos said. "We can't keep up with the technology. The building was built before there was a film program."

Other concerns among the students and faculty who utilize the CPA are a lack of space for instrument storage, an expansion of the choral and band room, a refurbishment of the theatre lab into a working shooting studio and roofing over the scene shop.

"Ultimately we will get our head around all these things that need work done to them and you can be a part of that process during that time," Jacobs said.

— Nathan Elias contributed to this report.