Have you been affected by Emory’s “phase out” of certain academic programs? Do you want to participate in a movement to protest these changes? Meet Jonathan Denmar—a senior who is double majoring in Music Composition and Journalism, who facilitated the organization of “#EmoryCuts.” According to its Facebook page, #EmoryCuts is “an organization seeking to ‘save’ the Liberal Arts infrastructure at Emory University.” Jonathan adds, “Our mission is to find logical ways of working with the administration to figure out how these cuts could be reversed, and what needs to happen to keep the fundamental programs here at Emory.”
We spoke with Jonathan to find out more about his involvement with #EmoryCuts, and the group’s plans for this semester. Originally from New York City, Jonathan chose to attend to Emory because he wanted a liberal arts education. After taking JRNL 201 News Reporting and Writing for his writing requirement, Jonathan discovered his love for Journalism, and chose to make it his major. This fall, following Dean Forman’s September 14, 2012 announcement of departmental closures, Jonathan created social media pages for “#EmoryCuts in order to “get people talking…and promote the idea of a need for liberal arts education and what we can do to improve our school.” Although Jonathan has become the face of this movement, he maintains that many other people are behind this movement and that he is “not the sole leader.”
Of course, Dean Forman’s announcement has created tremendous controversy on campus. Jonathan acknowledges that while many people are passionate about the issue and have very strong opinions, he tries to “stay out of the political side as much as possible.” Surprisingly, he also adds that he does not consider himself “greatly affected” by the cuts, but rather he chooses to participate in #EmoryCuts because he cares about younger students’ missed opportunities to have a liberal arts education.
Jonathan revealed that, much to his surprise, his last talk with administration was not successful. So what does the future hold for this movement? Jonathan says, “As long as we can do work that will help the situation here at Emory and help lead to positive changes, I think I will be satisfied. Even if the cuts don’t get reversed, I hope our work makes a difference and inspires others.”