Administration dispels rumors regarding termination of music and arts education degrees
2 min readBy HOPE RACINE
The University of Mary Washington community was temporarily shocked last week following rumors of the immediate termination of UMW art and music education degrees.
On March 19, the Department of Music Facebook page posted, “Yesterday we were informed that our administration has immediately suspended the Art and Music Education degrees here at the University of Mary Washington and will not even teach out the remaining students.”
Student response was immediate and angry. However, the initial announcement was incorrect. The decision made was to suspend the tracks and to stop accepting new applicants, though current students would not be impacted.
The initial Facebook post was later edited to correct the mistake.
The suspension would only impact the art and music education programs with the five-year, K-12 track, and not the entire music and art programs, as many concerned students originally thought.
The community had little reason to mourn, however, as an email from Provost Jonathan Levin to the UMW community on March 20 alleviated fears.
“I am pleased to announce that pending further review, the College of Education will continue to admit new students to the music and art tracks of the five-year PreK-12 pathway,” wrote Levin. “The prior decision to suspend new admissions to these tracks was based on their low enrollments.”
According to Levin, the decision to lift the suspension resulted from the “College of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences, the chairs of the relevant departments in these colleges and the many students, faculty, staff and alums who expressed their support for these programs.
