Mills College Considers Dropping Its Dance Major
The Mills College dance department in Oakland was hit with some unfortunate news last week. On October 19, college President Alecia DeCoudreaux sent out a memorandum announcing potential cuts to the dance department, reported by the school’s student-run paper The Campanil. While the dance minor and graduate program will remain, the school has proposed dissolving the dance major under budget constraints. In terms of curriculum, this means dropping the senior thesis class required for majors. The administration reportedly elaborated, during a student forum, that it hopes the change will help bring the college into the 21st century. Founded in 1938, Mills’ dance department is the oldest, continuously-run program in the country today. With that comes a list of distinguished alumni, including Molissa Fenley and Trisha Brown.
A petition has been started on change.org to save the dance major. In four days, it has garnered more than 3,100 signatures. Add yours here.
