The flower bed outside Regenstein gets more attention from Northwestern than the School of Music inside does.

Nowhere in any of his recent universitywide addresses has University President Henry Bienen mentioned the School of Music. Other than a passing reference to “performing arts” in Campaign Northwestern propaganda, there is little concern for expanding the university’s artistic programs.

The Music Administration Building is one of the oldest buildings on campus. If it ever caught fire, the place would be gone in seconds. Regenstein is a hole. There are 32 practice rooms for which 200 students compete daily. Imagine having to wait in line at the library to study. If that happened, the university would do something about it.

The music school does not have enough studios to house its faculty adequately. Until recently, even senior professors had to share office space. I had a chemistry lecturer with a larger office. What gives?

One professor told me they felt the only time the university pays attention to arts programs is when we are carted out to entertain donors who then donate money to other programs.

If NU is to be the great university the administration wants it to be, it cannot continue to ignore the performing arts programs on campus.

The School of Music needs expanded facilities to continue operating, draw new students and faculty, and maintain its stature as a highly respected School of Music. Incredibly, not only is this not happening, as best as we music majors can tell, it is not even being discussed.

In the four years I have been here, I have witnessed the physical expansion of McCormick, Kellogg and the law and medical schools. Nothing has happened to the School of Music. Nothing. The same toilets have been overflowing for years. The same practice rooms still have no doorknobs. The same pianos have been here since 1965 and haven’t been tuned in that long. I have been at small state schools that have better music facilities than NU. But they don’t have a nanofabrication building, new lab facilities and a new indoor golf range.

Where does the School of Music’s money go? Scholarships, to be sure, but I cannot fathom why the university has not devoted more money and attention to its nationally recognized music program. Isn’t the goal of this school to bring in better students and faculty? I’m confident that some prospective students take one look at NU’s dilapidated music facilities and head to greener pastures.

Where else in this university is there the across-the-board depth, talent and respect that the School of Music commands? Virtually every professor is a prominent name in the music world. How many other departments on campus have that kind of pedigree?

It genuinely is a wonder that a program so ignored can remain so strong. The depth of the apathy is appalling. When was the last time Bienen or any university administrators attended a School of Music event? I realize that the School of Music is not a cash cow like Kellogg, the law school or the football team, but does that mean the university should ignore it altogether?