Hope Springs from PSOA Fire Tragedy

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Dear Faculty, Staff and Students,

Our campus suffered great losses from the fire in the Peck School of the Arts Theatre building over the weekend. Displaced students, faculty and staff, and disrupted projects and performances resulted from the serious damage that occurred. We also are seeing much hope and enormous resiliency emerge from this tragedy.

We are pleased that the Music building will be re-opened on Monday and the Art building is expected to be re-opened by the end of next week to all students, faculty, staff, classes, and events. The Theatre building, which suffered the most damage, is being approached as an opportunity to unveil an updated and upgraded performing space and learning center by the start of the fall 2017 semester.

As we continue to assess the damage, we have also gained an extraordinary amount of support from faculty, staff, students and members of the community as well as the UW System and Board of Regents. Additionally, PSOA Dean Scott Emmons tells me that the School has so far:

  • Received offers of help from professional performing arts companies, high school and collegiate educational programs, and community organizations from South Milwaukee to Green Bay.
  • Relocated 188 classes around our UWM campus. Thank you to our schools and colleges, Student Union, UWM Libraries, and dormitories.
  • Received 25 computers from our University Information Technology Services, the School of Information Studies, and others because some PSOA faculty, staff and students have not been able to access their office machines.
  • Relocated more than 50 music auditions for prospective students around our UWM campus.
  • Confirmed that our libraries have archived many important historical photos, programs, and other materials collected over the years, thought to have been destroyed.
  • Received offers of support from alumni and our development team for emergency student funds.

Dean Emmons and I extend additional thanks to Geoff Hurtado, associate vice chancellor, Facilities Planning and Management and the Facilities Services team, and the UWM Police Department for their dedicated involvement in countless planning sessions with PSOA and the restoration company with which we are working.

UWM Panthers possess a special breed of grit, humility and resilient strength. I am extremely grateful to all who have made this tragedy more bearable and who are working diligently to quickly restore our Peck School of the Arts.

Best regards,

Mark A. Mone
Chancellor
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee