Jessica López-Barkl, a Professor of Theater at SUNY Sullivan Reacts to Program ending

After the first regular meeting of the SUNY Sullivan Board of Trustees with its new President, Dr. David Potash, it was announced that several programs at the college would be cut. 

Among the resolutions discussed, six programs were considered for elimination. Ultimately, five programs were approved to be cut, while one program, the Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Associate of Applied Sciences (AAS) program, was spared.

The five programs approved for elimination are:

1.  Media Arts Associate in Science (AS) program
2.  Theater Associate of Arts (AA) program
3.  Environmental Science AS program
4.  Liberal Arts & Sciences AS - Biology Concentration program
5.  Liberal Arts & Sciences AS - Mathematics Concentration program

Jessica López-Barkl, a Professor of Theater and Speech, Theater Program Director at SUNY Sullivan who heads the Theater Associate of Arts (AA) program, recently told Radio Catskill, “For me and the students, it means that I can teach out the program of the majors that are still there, they have that right. I will be finishing their (students) time there so they can finish their degree. At that point, it's a little unclear as to how the theatre aspects of the college will continue.”

Dr. Teresa Hamlin, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, was quoted in the Sullivan County Democrat, saying, "Everyone needs to understand that we're in support of keeping the theatre here and still having productions. We just can't afford to keep the formal degree in theater, but we can keep theatre as part of this community and part of this college that's important to all of us on the board."