TFP NO MORE:
Department mergers mean the TV and Cinema majors will be dissolved
by
Elizabeth Abenchuchan
Buff N' Blue Staff
The TV, Film, and Photography (TFP) Department has been merged with the ART department this year, as announced via a campus-wide e-mail. The e-mail, sent out by Karen Kimmel, the interim associate Dean of Academic Departments, explained that the photography and digital media tracks have a number of majors and will continue in the arts department, while television and cinema do not “have enough students to justify continuation of that major after those students are graduated in May 2002.” Facundo Montenegro, the favorite of several TV and Cinema Students will not continue teaching after this May. He does not have tenure, so he is not protected and thereby will be laid off. The current TV and Cinema majors are not keeping quiet about this situation. Julia Dameron, a junior, said “I will not keep my arms locked behind my back and keep my words under my breath.” Ryan Commerson, a senior majoring in TV and Cinema, said that his first thought was, “Huh? They’re taking away the very vessel that the Deaf Community use to record their culture and history? They’re having problems with retention, worried about the drop in enrollment, and now they’re willing to turn students away to other universities such as RIT/NTID (who has an excellent TV/Cinema program). Commerson said that Montenegro was the person who revitalized the program. “When Facundo showed up, he brought the department back to life,” he said. Commerson further explained that Montenegro gave students inspiration and helped them become determined to be the best they can be. “(He) saw the serious need for new courses with more focus on new things, and as a result students began to develop professional looking movies.” With Montenegro, Commerson said, students became more confident that they could succeed in the movie making business. Both Dameron and Commerson feel that TV and Cinema is very important to Deaf Culture. “Considering the true nature of deafness and its culture, the absence of video and film will be like walking around without a left leg,” Dameron said. “The Gallaudet Revolution, Deaf Mosaic, even way back when George Veditz was using a 16 mm film to record his sign language before American Sign Language was recognized by William Stokoe—all this goes to show how important film and Video is to deaf history.” There is a new organization on campus in response to the charges in the TFP department. Dameron is the president of the Ernest Marshall Association, a film and video society for Gallaudet Students. “It’s sole purpose is to have a strong support system for the Television, Photography, and Digital Media students to develop skills and to work with others in the same field,” Dameron said. She also added that Ernest Marshall was the first deaf man who made movies with deaf people. Dameron said that they will investigate who is directly responsible for the changes, and find out the reasons behind it. With this information, they will write letters to the Board of Trustees, the chair of the department, and the Dean. They will also make videos showing their concerns for the future of Gallaudet’s students. The two reasons behind the TFP merge, said authorities, are the low number of students majoring in TV and Cinema, and lack of funds for the program. They also said they had to let Montenegro go due to lack of funds. Commerson said that he went to the Registrar’s Office and asked them how many students were majoring in each of the three majors under the TFP department. The office told him that they had four photography majors, eight digital media majors, and two TV and Cinema majors. “The digital media major was opened only last fall and now we already have eight majors? I regularly see around seven or so students, and all of them are declared TV and Cinema majors. There also may be others that I don’t know about. So, there can’t be only two TV and Cinema majors. So did they make that decision based on a computer glitch?” “(Montenegro” was the one who encouraged growth of the department and he was willing to be a student advisor. He was very involved in the development of students,” Commerson said. He also said that the students try to avoid taking classes under another faculty member who has been present since the establishment of the TV/Cinema major. Dameron has about one or two years left to complete before she graduates. She said, “I have been assured that I will meet the requirements for my major. Assurance is not something I want, just the facts of the matter. Which teachers will teach once Facundo is gone?” “Just when things were getting better, when we were getting more interest from the freshmen and the sophomores, the administration closed the major without our input,” said Commerson. Dameron adds, “I’m concerned about the future of the others. I know there are many deaf students out there who are more than willing to make film and video an integral part of their lives.”
Buff N' Blue Vol. CX Issue 3 September 21, 2001.