In 1998 my mother, Cynthia Austin, built a theatre program from the ground up at Southern Virginia University. With a barely existent budget, she created a beautiful program founded on traditions of faith and miracles. The Southern Virginia University administration now has begun the process of "phasing out" this program without any input from its students. As a soon to be graduating senior, I refuse to allow this "liberal arts" school to lose one of the main pillars of the arts itself. 

For years Southern Virginia University ran under the selling point of "the genius of small;" they prided themselves on being the "small university that could." To phase out this program that has thrived despite its size is in direct conflict with Southern Virginia's original mantra.

Stand beside us as we fight to show the school that they must live by their own claims of "belonging." The university's website says, "Over the past decade, our one-of-a-kind mission combined with our personalized approach to education has made us one of the fastest-growing colleges anywhere. You belong here too." 

We believe that they should be expected to live by this statement and allow their students to follow personalized approaches to their own education.