By: Jennifer Flores
The Theater Arts major at Dominican has been officially removed from the university’s bulletin. In 2025, faculty, staff, and administrators made the decision to refine the Theater Arts program, leaving many passionate theater students deeply affected.
Sheila Bauer-Gatsos, interim dean of Rosary College of Arts, Education, and Sciences, explained the situation.
“We all recognized that the theater program has been strong and well-loved at Dominican for many years,” she said.
“But recently, the enrollment numbers were not sufficient to sustain a cohort for upper-level courses in the major. Our goal that summer was to create a model for Theater Arts that fits Dominican’s mission and the needs of our students. ”
Many students involved in the program, however, were devastated by the news. Eliza Santiago, a senior at Dominican, recalls her initial reaction.
“I was incredibly sad and still am,” she said. “Though I was given the opportunity to still graduate from Dominican with a theatre major, a lot of people couldn’t.”
Santiago added that many of her peers had to transfer out, leaving her to be one of the last standing theater arts majors at Dominican.
“A lot of faculty and students have lost their positions, but some were lucky to get a new job within the school connected to the theatre through DUPAC/Event Services,” she said.
Another student who was involved in the Theater Arts program was Parker Linning. She came to Dominican in 2024 as a Double Major, putting focus on Computer Science and Theater Arts.
“I was not thrilled,” she said.
“I came in to Dominican specifically because of the theater program, and that was really just not a great thing to hear. That the school that I chose to dedicate the next four years of my life to, that I chose to dedicate thousands and thousands of dollars to, just has the ability to be like, ‘you’re not taking that major anymore’.”
Linning named Krista Hansen, chair and artistic director of theatre arts and music, as one of the many staff members who fought hard to keep the program.
“All I can say is that I’m very grateful to our staff,“ she said.
Despite this being a big change for many, Bauer-Gatsos confirms that theater at Dominican will remain present by continuing to offer theater arts as a minor.
“We are also considering other options for theater in the future, including possibilities in theater arts management, creative and applied arts, interdisciplinary approaches, and/or certificates,” she added. There is also hope that stage productions will continue through the Theater Arts Lab Series, so that students will stay involved in performing arts on campus.
However, it is uncertain when these productions will resume.
“There are no shows this year either, from what I’ve heard,” Linning said.
“The idea is to continue using the theatre and give a production, but there will be less of them and not the same way we have done so in the past,” Santiago said. “With such a small scale to work with, we probably won’t be using the Lund for any productions in a while.”
Bauer-Gatsos confirms that this will likely be the case; however, they are exploring some possibilities.
“I have had conversations with faculty and administrators about whether a smaller production might be possible, so we are considering our options for this academic year,” she said. “If not this year, we would hope to relaunch no later than academic year 2027-2028.”
Both students, nonetheless, plan to make the most out of their final semesters. Linning will continue to pursue her computer science degree and stay involved in baseball, while Santiago will continue to host Curtain Call events as the president of the organization.
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