'It just hurts' | Bellarmine University to cut multiple majors, including theater and Spanish

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Bellarmine University is cutting several programs due to low enrollment in specific majors.

While no disciplines will be eliminated from the core curriculum, select majors will be phased out over the next few years, including undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Nearly 3,000 students are enrolled at Bellarmine. Sophomore Lilly Keranen is double majoring in theater and arts administration and minoring in communications.

"I actually came to Bellarmine because I heard that it was really well known for theater," Keranen said.

On Wednesday, Keranen received an email that caught her off guard. 

"There had been talks about this last semester, but they had told us that we were going to be safe and that they weren't going to cut the theatre program. I was really upset and I cried when I found out. My mom is upset for me," Keranen said.

Bellarmine is cutting the following undergraduate degrees: aging studies, foreign languages and international studies, philosophy, physics, radiation therapy, senior living leadership, Spanish, medical laboratory science and theater. They are also cutting a couple of graduate degrees: athletic Training and medical laboratory science. The university said those majors have produced just a few graduates in recent years.

Freshman Katelyn Carter, who's double majoring in arts administration and theater, said cutting the departments is a mistake.

"When I came to Bellarmine, I knew no one and I found my family here. I found my mentor. I found what I want to do, and the thought of incoming freshmen not having that genuinely upsets me, because it's all of these groups that are tight knit family, because that's what Bellarmine is. We are a bunch of small communities creating one big, large happy family. And now with the board's decision, it feels like we aren't. It feels like we have been betrayed and it just hurts," Carter said. 

WDRB was not able to speak with President Dr. Susan Donovan. She provided a statement: "I am confident and our Trustees are confident, that we have positioned Bellarmine University for a vibrant future."

"From them cutting Spanish, I mean, that's a language widely spoken all over the country and just for them to cut that, cut them out, is really telling of who they are and what they care about," Keranen said.

Nearly 3,000 students are enrolled at Bellarmine. There are 75 returning students in the affected majors.

The university hosted a couple of optional informational sessions this week to answer student's questions in-person. Bellarmine said students taking these courses will be grandfathered in, including incoming students. 

Bellarmine says they will also continue to offer courses in these disciplines. For example, theatre courses and productions will continue even when they stop offering degrees.

Bellarmine recently added a marketing, neuroscience, public health degrees, biomedical science, nurse anesthesia and health professions education, as well as a degree-completion program for returning students with prior college credit.

For more information on their newest strategic vision, click here.

Keranen and Carter are acting in Bellarmine's 'Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind' production this weekend. You can find more information and buy tickets online by clicking here.

A letter sent to students in Bellarmine's College of Arts and Sciences on the changes to academic majors can be read below:

Dear Bellarmine Student,

Yesterday, our Board of Trustees made the difficult decision to phase out select majors over the next few years. These changes, made as part of a new strategic vision, will affect your major. All current students in these majors and associated minors will have the opportunity to graduate with their declared major and minor, and all faculty members associated with these majors have the option to return this fall. We met with the faculty members associated with these majors over the past two days.

Within the Bellarmine College of Arts and Sciences, the following programs are scheduled to be phased out: Foreign Language and International Studies, Philosophy, Physics, Spanish, and Theatre. Your major will be subject to a teach-out plan – a formal arrangement that ensures students have a path to complete their degree when a major is being phased out.

I am reaching out to you to share this news before the rest of the campus community is notified later this afternoon. We want to provide students in these affected majors with the opportunity to gather with campus leadership, where you can learn more and ask questions. You can also ask questions or make comments in advance here. If you are unable to attend the optional sessions below, just indicate that in the form, and a campus community member will respond to you.

Thursday, March 23, 5 p.m., Centro’s James and Norma Mason Admissions Theater

Friday, March 24, 2 p.m., Centro, Room 276

In the meantime, I want to share these assurances with you:

You will have the opportunity to complete your degree at Bellarmine under the current curricula for your major. A phase-out means that, beginning this fall, no students will be able to declare a major in an affected program.

Your advisor will work with you to develop an individualized pathway to graduation, to assure you that the courses and experiences you need will be available.

Any institutional aid, such as scholarships and grants, that you have received will continue to be awarded under the terms associated with them. If any questions arise regarding your financial aid package, please contact the Office of Financial Aid.

All of Bellarmine’s robust support systems available to Bellarmine students, such as the Student Success Center, will remain accessible to you while you are at Bellarmine.

At any time, if you have concerns about your path to graduation at Bellarmine, your advisor, chair and/or dean will be available to meet with you to review your needs.

Upon graduation from Bellarmine, you will be inducted into our Alumni Association, ensuring you a vibrant professional network and lifelong access to our Career Development Center.

While we will be available to you during the information sessions listed above, if you have any urgent questions, you may contact your academic advisor, the Student Success Center, the Career Development Center, or the Office of Financial Aid.

We did not arrive at this decision easily, but I want to assure you that the value of your Bellarmine education and your eventual degree will not change as a result of these decisions.

Sincerely,

Mary O. Huff, Ph.D.

Dean, Bellarmine College of Arts and Sciences

Professor, Department of Biology

Bellarmine University

Office: (502) 272-8359

Lab: (502) 272-8495

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