Sioux City, IA – Briar Cliff University. The Catholic Franciscan learning place. A liberal arts school made up of over 1,100 students . Located on a hilltop campus with a surface area comparable to those fifty-person towns you take the highway to avoid.

My college experience has been far from the typical image conjured up by those with state universities in mind; Greek life is nonexistent, there aren’t exactly organized parties to hit up every weekend (also, certainly nowhere near the size), and contrary to popular belief, watching our football games is not the same religious experience.

So, why did I choose to come here, and why did I choose to stay? I’ll be honest: my reason isn’t the best, but it seems to be the most popular motivating factor for students who choose Briar Cliff; I received many a generous scholarship from BCU, which made my education more affordable than the state universities I once dreamed about did.

I chose to stay because of the people. It’s a campus cliché to talk about it, but there’s something special about Briar Cliff’s sense of community. Students here aren’t only from Iowa; this place is incredibly diverse for its size and location.

Each member of this community brings something here that nobody else has, and it creates an environment where we can relate to and learn from one another. This, my friends, is to me one of the most amazing things about Briar Cliff University, and it has made all the difference in my own life and my ideas about the world around me.

Speaking about Briar Cliff’s sense of community is really only scratching the surface of all the things that make this place so great. There are many, many more things I could address if I had the time or word count.

However, as abundant as these things are, Briar Cliff as of late has done some things that have caused me to question its priorities, whether or not a culture change is under way, and whether or not it’s the right type of change.

Briar Cliff University is a community committed to higher education within a liberal arts and Catholic perspective.

Ah, the liberal arts. They’re a priority, right? Right? I began to wonder if that was true when the theater program was erased. After dedicating 37 years of his life to growing BCU’s theater program, Professor Richard Poole decided he was ready to retire. Poole worked to convert the space, originally a gymnasium, into the theater it is now. More than once, he has spoken of the blood, sweat, and tears he invested into the place and the program.

During his career, he worked with many fine students, including Aaron Moore, a '90s grad, who recently performed on the Globe Theatre stage in London. Dozens more remain in Sioux City and are outstanding contributors to our own exceptional public theater community.

He also taught vital speech classes to the general student population. He had a knack for remembering names, growing confidence, and honing in on student strengths. The way he treated his students and his colleagues is one you can’t forget.

Poole made the decision to stay a few years later than he had originally planned in order to be sure that an adequate replacement could be found. However, rather than replacing his position with a professor who could continue the work he began, the University made the decision to dissolve the entire program. What better way to repay a man so worthy of respect?

In the Franciscan tradition of service, caring and openness to all, Briar Cliff emphasizes quality education for its students, combining a broad intellectual background with career development.

Theater isn’t the only major under scrutiny for its relevance in today's workforce; in fact, all liberal arts degrees typically are. But what’s special about liberal arts studies is that not only do they focus on the professional and career development skills of their students, they also focus on human elements.

I could learn to conduct research anywhere, but who is going to ask me the uncomfortable questions about what I believe and why? Education is not only about memorizing facts and formulas and statistics; it is also about character, service, and sureness of self.

In the case of theater, there are a number of skills developed that are easily transferred to the business world. Any actor who has been part of a show has had to work on a “project” with a specified (and usually very small) budget, design innovative sets with limited resources, and attend a number of also-limited rehearsals in anticipation of a deadline: opening night. What happens during those performances develops communication skills necessary for giving presentations, networking, and conducting interviews.

If the reason for cutting the program was not its “irrelevance,” was it the cost? If our university is looking for places to save money, why theater rather than football? Only one of these has its own facility on campus.

Students enjoy free tailgating before a home game in Vermillion, SD.

Briar Cliff football “home” games are actually played at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion, SD, which is a 45-minute drive from campus. This space is rented for $5,000 per game*.

Sure, donors help out, and others in our conference spend much more. But just how much of tuition money paid by students goes into this sport? What is known is that Athletics received 13.8 percent of University expenses, while 42.5 percent went to academics. Unfortunately, these percentages cannot be put into context without additional information, and Briar Cliff does not publicize an overview of its financial resources and their uses. Funding sports is not a bad thing, but just like any other program, its sources should be justifiable and self-sustaining.

You could argue that the reason there is a football team and not a theater program is there are students to fill it. However, the thing is, those students are recruited. Athletes make up 49 percent of our student body, mostly because somebody actively sought them out and lured them here.

Don’t get me wrong, that’s a great thing. What’s unfortunate is there is another realm, which is the arts, that isn’t being discovered by people who would flourish here. Most students who are undecided when they attend the college of their choice can move freely between business, biology or accounting, but programs like theater, music or art are not typically ones that students select as majors unless they have committed themselves before coming to university.

But who says there has to be a separation between the two? I remember a couple years ago when a production required audience involvement, and two athletes – a football player and a wrestler, I believe – were among the selected. That day was the first time they realized we had something like this on campus, and after the show, they expressed interest in being involved in more productions.

How cool is that? That sort of experience is what this place is all about. Anyway, you can’t expect to receive a proper number of students when your program isn’t properly represented.

The University challenges its members to grow in self-awareness and in their relationships to others and to God.

Senior theater major Derek Helget has this to say, “[T]hink of it this way: the theater building is the main building, element and learning tool for my major… without that, taking that away, that's doing a major disservice to me as a student to help prepare me for the outer world. I will be needing those skills and essentially competing with thousands of others just for a single job."

“In other majors such as biology, chemistry [and] nursing, they all have labs that they spend hours of extra time in beyond class... How well would those students be doing in school without those labs? I would guess that [they] wouldn't be doing very well. And they would be scared and nervous about how they will make a living in the real word after college."

A final bow after an improv show during the last season at BCU.

“Or like with the sports teams. What if they didn't have their facilities or gyms or practice fields? It's what they came here to this school to do, and without it, they have nothing. That's [what] the theater is to me: it's what I came here to this school to do. And without it, it pains me emotionally,” said Helget.

Helget sat down with President Bev Wharton and Vice President for Academic Affairs Dr. William Mangan earlier this year to discuss the prospects of reintroducing the major. Derek said, "For Briar Cliff, there would need to be 10-20 majors in a four-year span to have the majors take classes with each other. There would need to be 8-10 students in a class to cover the teacher’s salary. The production revenue has also been decreasing over the past few years."

As daunting as the task may seem, Helget does not believe it is impossible. "I propose that Briar Cliff starts the theater revival by announcing they will reestablish it for a three year period. Once this is announced, take immediate action by focusing more on the recruitment process. Create a goal for how many majors the university wants to bring in each year. Evaluate how the program is doing after three years."

"In this three-year period, the university can take a few easy steps to make a successful theater program. Let’s say that Briar Cliff sets aside $1,000- $2,000 for just recruitment in theater… The Marketing Department can easily help out with this by posting on Facebook, Twitter, and all other social media platforms."

"Four or five majors would be a good start for the first year, and another 4-6 majors each of the next two years after. If each student pays $20,000 for the year [after all BCU scholarships], with 4-5 majors in the first year, that would be $80,000-$100,000 in revenue toward Briar Cliff. If that current trend continued for the next two years after the first year, that could be an estimated total of $240,000- $300,000 or more of revenue toward Briar Cliff... [T]hat would also allow Briar Cliff to produce higher-quality shows that bring in more revenue through the box office."

Over the course of the academic year, there have been a handful of events hosted in the theater. Two comedians had some really entertaining and well-attended shows. Rick Santorum spoke to students while he was still in the political race. A battle-of-the-arts show put on by students featured poets, writers, musicians, and artists. Briar Cliff Student Government recently approved the establishment of a student-driven theater club, and rehearsals for an upcoming spring production are ongoing.

Things like this make me optimistic for the future, but alone, they’re not enough to ease my mind.

If decisions like these are swept under the rug, how much longer until the same happens to the art department, the music department or the English department? How much longer until Briar Cliff loses all the things that make it Briar Cliff? Some exciting expansions have occurred or will soon, but let’s not lose sight of who we are.

Prospective students, athletes and creative individuals alike: we love what you can bring to our campus, and we want you here.

Marketing team: recent strides have been made in the university’s advertising campaign that is more representative of our student body than in past years. Keep up the good work.

Administration: We understand you work tirelessly to provide an optimal learning environment for students. Please, keep making decisions with all of our community in mind, not only the majority, and not only our pocketbooks.

*Numbers without specified sources obtained through the BCU Marketing and Communications Department.