With the university in financial trouble and decreased funding from the state, administrators are actively seeking to cut a number of UAF programs and departments, including Theatre UAF.

It's time to remind the university that theatre is important to the Fairbanks community.

If the BA in Theatre is eliminated, it will mean the end of Theatre UAF!

Sign this petition to save Theatre UAF in our community and campus!

Theatre UAF provides an important artistic and cultural outlet for the Fairbanks and University community.

Theatre UAF greatly supports and collaborates with the other arts organizations in town including:

• Fairbanks Drama Association & Children's Theatre

• Fairbanks Shakespeare Theatre

• Opera Fairbanks

• Fairbanks Light Opera Theatre

• North Star Ballet Company

• Revive the Red Tent

• Fairbanks Arts Association

• Fairbanks Concert Association

• Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival

• The Green Room

• Alaska Universal Productions

• Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Theatre Programs

 Arts education teaches important life and academic skills including:

• Teamwork

• Responsibility

• Collaboration

• Leadership   

• Empathy

• Compassion     

• Analysis

• Problem solving

• Reasoning   

• Abstract thinking

• Conceptualization

• Creative thinking  

Performing arts programs offer students a benefit they usually do not find in an ordinary classroom. Instead of just learning facts, they gain knowledge about who they are and what they can do.  This helps them grow into well-rounded, self-aware adults, parents and citizens. It is also important to remember that the arts build cultural bridges, bringing greater understanding and communication to our American society.

A vibrant Theatre Arts presence in a community brings other benefits as well.  It brings in tourism and local dollars to merchants, and helps to build the community's reputation as a "destination." In Fairbanks specifically, the arts offer people an opportunity to come together for a positive, shared experience of what it means to be human. It reminds us that there is more than just survival in a cold, dark, isolated place.