Dear SCU Student Body,

On behalf of Santa Clara University, as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and in partnership with SCU•Presents-Performing Arts Center, I am pleased to respond to your passionate and thoughtful request for free access to Arts events at SCU. We agree that all SCU students should have access to the performing arts as part of their SCU experience. With the goal of making the Arts more accessible, and in keeping with our Jesuit mission and values, SCU•Presents-Performing Arts Center will launch a pilot program for the 2023-24 academic year that will make student admission free to all performances of the SCU Theatre and Dance, and Music Departments. 

Engaging with the arts is essential to the human experience. As a liberal arts University with the Jesuit mission of educating the whole person, the Arts are necessary for our students. The performing arts challenge us with different points of view, compel us to empathize with others, and give us the opportunity to reflect on the human condition. When students attend or participate in the performing arts, they experience increased levels of happiness, greater engagement with their professions and peers, and higher levels of social tolerance.¹ 

Coming in Fall 2023, all registered SCU students (undergraduate and graduate) may receive complimentary admission to all Santa Clara University Department of Theatre and Dance, and Department of Music performances. We look forward to partnering with student leadership as we consider how best to implement this program. Details will be announced before Fall 2023. 

Butch Coyne, Director of SCU•Presents/Performing Arts Center, shares in my enthusiasm, “In partnership with Dean Press and the College of Arts and Sciences, we are proud to offer our students this unique opportunity. Along with our Arts for Social Justice program, this is our way to continue enhancing arts education at SCU.”

I am honored to support our students' request for complimentary admission to all Santa Clara University Department of Theatre and Dance, and Department of Music performances. I am persuaded that our pursuit of cura personalis, care for the whole person, necessarily includes fostering the art that lives in each of us, so removing barriers to our own performances feels both nurturing and liberating!

See you in the audience!

Daniel Press
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

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¹For materials related to arts engagement and positive outcomes see Rabkin, Hearts and Minds: The Arts and Civic Engagement; Crossick and Kaszynska, Understanding the Value of Arts and Culture: The A.H.R.C. Cultural Value Project. Arts & Humanities Research Council; Leroux and Bernadska, Impact of the Arts on Individual Contributions to U.S. Civil Society.