DAVID ESHELMAN: New theater        years. I look forward to what
leader at Tech.Ardith Morris       the future holds.”
sent me a note via Facebook a      The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
few minutes ago that said          River Valley and Ozark
she'd been removed as              Edition named Eshelman to its
director of the theater            “20 to Watch” list for 2012.
program at Arkansas Tech           The decision to make a change
University after 29 years.         in the leadership of the
Shortly after, a news release      Arkansas Tech theatre program
arrived from the university        was based on four factors:
confirming the change. She's       *a report made by the
tenured and will remain a          Russellville Fire Marshall on
faculty member. Dr. David          Sept. 9, 2011, found “fire
Eshelman, an assistant             and life safety issues” at
professor of speech, will be       the Techionery theatre
interim director of the            workshop that led Arkansas
theater program.                   Tech to close the workshop on
Kate Brugh, who was theater        Sept. 15, 2011;
production manager, also was       *while the enrollment of the
reassigned to teaching duties.     university has more than
The theater program has long       doubled over the past decade,
been a source of friction on       the number of students
campus. Tech President Robert      choosing to pursue the
Brown set off one controversy      Bachelor of Arts degree in
by banning use of a prop gun       speech with the theatre
in a stage musical in 2008.        option has been stagnant at
Before that fight over free        approximately 18 students per
expression was over, public        year —- this compares to 177
performances had been              current majors in art and 160
severely limited and Morris        current majors in music;
was lauded by the ACLU for         *the passage rate of Arkansas
her 1st Amendment defense.         Tech theatre students taking
Things blew up again with          the test necessary to enter
closure of the theater             the teacher education program
program's workshop following       in recent years has been
a fire department safety           approximately 10 percent,
inspection last fall. Theater      which is not acceptable to
defenders saw this as an           the university;
orchestrated inspection and        *and there have been an
said cramped conditions in         average of approximately four
the workshop were a result of      graduates per year with the
the administration's long          Bachelor of Arts degree in
failure to provide adequate        speech with the theatre
facilities.                        option over the past decade,
The school cited the workshop      a number which is below the
safety problem in the              State of Arkansas minimum for
leadership change, but also        degree production.
said the program wasn't            Dr. Ardith Morris, who
attracting enough students         previously served as director
and producing enough drama         of the theatre program at
teachers.                          Arkansas Tech, and Kate Brugh,
NEWS RELEASE                       who previously served as
Arkansas Tech University took      production manager for the
steps on Thursday to ensure        theatre program at Arkansas
the long-term viability of         Tech, are tenured members of
its theatre program by             the faculty who are now
further strengthening its          reassigned to full-time
commitment to the arts.            teaching duties within the
Dr. David Eshelman, assistant      Department of Speech, Theatre
professor of speech at             and Journalism.
Arkansas Tech since 2006, has      Arkansas Tech will conduct a
been named interim director        national search to identify a
of the university theatre          new permanent director for
program.                           the university’s theatre
His first assignment in his        program.
new role will be to oversee        The university is compiling a
the clean-up and restoration       self-study as part of the
of the Techionery theatre          Arkansas Department of Higher
workshop, and the university       Education (ADHE) review of
has committed to providing         the Arkansas Tech Bachelor of
the resources necessary to         Arts degree in speech —-
bring about the                    including the theatre option
revitalization of that             within that degree.
facility.                          The self-study, which
Eshelman’s background in           includes input from members
theatre includes writing           of the Arkansas Tech speech
plays and monodramas that          and theatre faculty, is
have been performed in such        scheduled to be completed in
locales as Chicago and New         mid-February.
York City.                         In March, a team of
He is the founder of the           independent evaluators from
Arkansas Radio Theatre, which      out of state selected by ADHE
operates within the Arkansas       will visit Arkansas Tech to
Tech Department of Speech,         conduct an on-site visit as
Theatre and Journalism.            part of the program review.
Eshelman holds a Ph.D. in          The independent evaluators
theatre from the University        will use the self-study and
of Missouri. He earned his         their own observations to
Bachelor of Arts degree from       compile a report, which will
Case Western Reserve               be returned to the Arkansas
University and his Master of       Tech Department of Speech,
Fine Arts degree from the          Theatre and Journalism in mid-
University of Texas at Austin.     April.
“I am excited about the            The self-study report, the
future of the theatre program      independent evaluators’
at Arkansas Tech and my role       report and university
in it,” said Eshelman. “I          comments to the reports will
have enjoyed working with the      be forwarded to ADHE in early
students involved in Tech          May.
theatre over the past six          

Austin Lucas plays a house         Chance Records.
show in Little Rock Thursday.      The show starts at 7:30 p.m.
We just got word here at Rock      at 712 Beechwood St., and the
Candy HQ about a house show        suggested donation is $5.
on Thursday with Bloomington,      Hill will have a raffle for a
Ind. singer/songwriter Austin      test pressing of Lucas' "Live
Lucas, who has released            at the White Water Tavern" LP.
albums on Travis Hill's Last       Seth Baldy opens the show.