By Kate Luce
Staff Writer
kmluce@iu.edu
Students from IU South Bend and regional high schools will get into several campus performances for free this academic year.
After a cut of 20% of the Raclin School of the Arts total budget due to a redesigned budget, the school decided that students would have to pay $5 for theater and musical performances. According the Dean Marvin Curis, it was a hard decision to make, but it had to be done to support the school’s costs with performances.
The year before, the school was given only $5,000 for performances by the Student Government Association (SGA). Despite this loss, the school still decided to keep tickets free to students.
However, Curtis believed providing students with performances was essential, which is why he and Demaree Dufour Noneman, production coordinator of Raclin School of the Arts, came in on Friday to request $10,000 to provide funding for free tickets for some events hosted by the Raclin School of the Arts.
The SGA passed on the funding request of $10,000 for the school entirely, with substantial support from the senators and members of the cabinet.
“I think the reason the majority of the senate was so willing to fund the full amount that Raclin was asking for was because they know how important the arts are to the student population at IUSB. Some students just aren’t able to pay ticket fees and we would never want those people to have to miss out on all the IUSB has to offer. I also think the Senate felt it was right to fund them $10,000 because two years ago we were funding them around $15,000 and then funding sharply dropped the next year to $5000 and this year to $4000,” said Taylor Jump, secretary.
This budget will allow students to receive free tickets to theatre productions “Mamma Mia!,” “By the Way,” “Meet Vera Stark,” “Michelle Little Hearts Theatre: Charlotte’s Web” and “Almost, Maine.” Dance productions are free for students, and additionally, the annual “Teddy Bear Concert” and “Lift Every Voice Up” will be free for students.
Last year, the school gave away 2,075 free tickets to students, and as for the ticket sales this year, the school is hoping to keep that same total or surpass it.
Curtis brought to the attention of the members of SGA that IU South Bend is the only school in the region to offer free tickets to students. Notre Dame, Bethel and even IU Bloomington do not extend student discounts to this.
However, this decision does knock down the total budget of the SGA to $86,108.
This was not the only request made during this meeting. A much smaller funding request came to the attention of SGA members after the decision was made for Raclin School of the Arts. The Psychology Club asked for a reimbursement of $67.19, after the group hosted a pizza party for interested students.
The SGA accepted this request, but instead reimbursed the club with $68 instead of $67.
The Psychology Club is seeking to have more educational events and host networking events with local non for profits in the future.
Disclaimer: The staff writer of this article currently works for the Raclin School of the Arts.
