The Huntington University Performing Arts Department will cease to offer majors and minors in music and theater to incoming students, effective immediately. However, opportunities will remain for students to pursue music and theater in various capacities.
Abigail Ensinger | April 15, 2026
In the fall semester, it was announced to the campus that the Performing Arts Department was being suspended. The announcement was met with significant criticism and disappointment from current performing arts students as well as the rest of the campus community.
However, there are still plans for the tradition of performing arts to continue at Huntington University. Dr. Luke Fetters, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, stated that the university would continue to offer ensembles such as choir, orchestra, and band, as well as multiple theater productions each year.
Additionally, there are plans to continue offering class piano, class guitar, and class voice or voice lessons if there is a demand.
Dr. Fetters stated that the institution would hire a full-time staff member to run performing arts ensembles and classes and to hire adjuncts as needed to fill in the gaps in instruction. He plans to form a committee next year that would include Dean of the Arts Lance Clark, current adjuncts, and students to begin the process of deciding what they will look for when hiring this new staff member.
Although this plan was communicated with the current faculty, they continue to be somewhat in the dark about some details. Associate Professor of Music Dr. George Killian shared, “I know that there’s a plan to continue on. I don’t know what it would be like … It’s just kind of off in the distance right now, so all the details are not in place.”
Students have similarly felt left in the dark, at times. Evelyn McKee, a sophomore with majors in Bible and theology and music, expressed that she had “been communicated with a lot of maybes.”
While there are considerations for the future, there are current performing arts students who still need to fulfill their graduation requirements. Dr. Fetters explained that the current freshmen and sophomores have been fast-tracked in their graduation requirements so they will be able to finish all of their classes before they are no longer offered at the end of the 2026-2027 academic year.
McKee confirmed that she will be able to complete her required music classes before the end of the semester: “I would like to take lessons my senior year, but I think that’s a little bit up in the air about whether or not that will be able to happen.”
This has been a difficult time for Huntington’s music and theater students. In McKee’s words, “It’ll definitely be sad and weird not having an actual department in the future like my senior year.” Dr. Fetters looks forward to what the performing arts will look like while also grieving the loss of the department for the current students.
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