The Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Arts Management will no longer be known by that name.
The school was renamed The Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment to help make the school’s purpose easier to understand, said Melanie Shelley, associate dean and professor of arts management.
“It’s an effort for it to be easier to roll off the tongue, easier to understand and more inclusive to our entertainment business students,” Shelley said. “The arts management part of our name was limiting because our curriculum is much more than that.”
The change matches what the students’ education actually is, will help with recruiting, makes the school more transparent to the rest of the world, and is keeping up with the trends of other universities that also have made the change, Shelley said.
Discussion about the name change started with a suggestion from faculty during the recruiting process last year. The suggestion noted that there was a disconnect between the name and what the school offered.
After discussing it with faculty, the deans contacted Ann Lacy, whose name is on the school because of her philanthropic efforts, to approve the change.
President Robert Henry also was contacted for approval. Lacy and Henry approved and agreed with the deans’ reasoning, so Henry drafted a resolution that was brought to the board of trustees.
The executive committee discussed the change, then the rest of the board approved it.
Students who are part of the school were notified of the change Sept. 11 and Monday by an announcement on their call boards, which is a bulletin board with important announcements, or verbally by their professors.
The rest of the campus community found out by a Facebook post at about 11:45 a.m. Monday.
“Most of us don’t know much about it,” said Kristine Bachicha, dance management senior. “I was curious, so I discussed with one of my professors/adviser and she believes it is because it will be better for marketing. We, the dance majors, know what arts management is, but the outside world does not.”
The deans will continue to make changes and improvements as needed.
“We’re always looking at ways to improve the school,” Shelley said.
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