Students and faculty view their small majors with a fresh perspective

By Avonlea Brown

Cedarville University Theatre students gathered together at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 24. They received an email the previous day from Professor Stacey Stratton asking them to meet for an important announcement. Anticipating the worst, the tension in the room climbed until Stratton walked in and delivered the news: The Theatre major was being condensed – the number of classes would go from 16 to 13 and an open professor position would be removed – and the April show was canceled. The announcement came among rumors that the program would be closed.

While this was not the bad news they expected, it still stung for the small cohort of students, including junior Larissa Brye. 

“I remember I was very upset because theater is very important to me, especially the theatre department here, because it is really amazing,” Brye said. “But to kind of be cut down in what we can do, it’s really sad especially because, as much as we know that people were fighting for us, no one knows our craft like we do and no one knows the impact that it can have like we do.”

Small majors at any university always seem to get the short end of the stick, with budget cuts and downsizing dangling like an anvil above their heads. Yet, students at Cedarville University approach their small majors with a different mindset. Instead of giving into self-pity and bitterness, students in these programs advocate for and encourage each other with the help of their professors. 

Immediately after the meeting on Saturday, Theatre students began planning ways they could supplement the April show with something else that would grow and challenge them. 

“It was difficult to process,” Brye said. “But it definitely brought us as a major together and made us very determined to do our best and to show that even though this may be happening, that things may be getting smaller, we can still do the things for the work of the Lord.”

Cedarville’s academic programs go through a review every five years, with these reviews staggered so only a handful are done in one year, according to Dr. Thomas Mach, Cedarville’s academic vice-president. Last year, several programs from the Arts and Theatre, Biology and Engineering departments were reviewed. 

The Program Review Committee includes faculty and staff who assess how a program is doing, how many students come into the program every year and how the program fulfills Cedarville’s mission. If a program seems to be struggling in any of these, the Review Committee can make suggestions to the dean of the school that department falls under. The committee can then schedule the next review for a shorter period of time in order to make sure the changes are working. 

Mach participates in the review committee and knows well the reluctancy to deliver bad news. 

“This is one of the hardest things we do, recognizing that sometimes we have to make hard decisions about programs that we currently offer that aren’t doing super well to be able to put resources into programs that we know are increased demand just because of the changing culture, society, economy, whatever it is and trying to put our resources where they will best be used,” Mach said. 

Yet the process is different for Cedarville University, a financially stable private institution, than it is for other universities that face financial crises and have to cut programs in hasty efforts to save a sinking ship. 

“I’ve been like reading some of these articles lately about schools cutting these programs, it’s pretty rough. I mean, they’re just gone.” Mach said. “Our approach is really focused on making sure we take care of our people. So if we get to a point where we have to cancel a program that there are people teaching in, they’ll lose a position then I know that’s going to be done very carefully and cautiously with an eye to care for them. When we hire people, we hire them for the long term, for as long as God wants them here.”

Students of small majors then face a clash of rational and emotional thought: the process makes sense, but why does it have to be the one major that matters to them? Brye knows that struggle well and even remembers Stratton encouraging the troupe of theater majors after the Saturday assembly. 

“Professor Stratton has emphasized a lot to put aside whatever negative emotions we may have and just focus on serving the Lord and not doing our best for ourselves or to prove that we should not shut down, but to prove that our work is applicable,” Brye said. 

Professors play a vital role in the enrichment and encouragement of students, especially in small majors. 

Booker Atkins, a senior Adolescent Young Adult Language Arts(AYALA) English Education major, is part of a major with approximately 40 students. He and other students in the AYA Education majors enjoy extra opportunities to grow outside of their classes that professors provide. A recent example being a graduate school panel where English majors were invited to learn from alumni about possible tracks after graduation. 

“I really do think the professors care a lot about us,” Atkins said. “We also had a professor hold the time management seminar for us last year, and we’ll probably do it again next semester. They want to see us holistically thrive.”

The students themselves also create spaces and opportunities for growth in their fields outside of their classroom teaching. Atkins serves as president for Cedarville’s chapter of AKD, the English Honors Society, where he finds ways to bring the English department together. 

Within the Theatre department, students often get together to practice what they learn in the classroom. They work monologues and do improv exercises. 

Despite no funding, the theater students decided to put on their own show this April. The production will be completely student-led and free, featuring bits of past shows and student works. Next school year, the third production will officially return. 

For Brye and Atkins, the size of the major did not matter when they first chose them, and it does not matter now. 

“No, I do not regret it at all,” Brye said. “Mostly because of the community, because I know I’m getting a really good education here and also because You won’t find another Theater department like Cedarville’s because we have that closeness and that unity, and now this has just brought us closer together.”

“Oh no, I will never give up,” Atkins said. “Never, because I love the nature of the major. I want to see everyone in the major succeed. So I’m not discouraged, we will keep fighting.”

Avonlea Brown is a senior Broadcasting, Digital Media, and Journalism major and editor of Campus News for Cedars. She likes reading, traveling, and learning new things.

Photos by Logan Howard, Scott Huck, and Gaby Bush