Hello Mr. Trudeau,
I voted for you in the election because I believed in what you promised and that you would greatly improve our country. Now I, and many other fellow Langley citizens ask for your help in preventing the termination of the music department at KPU.
The higher powers in KPU deemed the program ‘ineffective preparing students’. However, the program is valued all over B.C. and in other provinces. It is even recognized internationally. Our students have a 100 per cent acceptance rate to graduate programs and current students are in the community performing, teaching and freelancing.
The administration of KPU is building a new campus in expense for our music program, and they are not being honest with the students and faculty about the situation. They have cancelled intake of new students for next year saying it is a step forward, when in reality it is a step towards the decimation of our program.
In allowing the Bachelor of Music program to be cancelled, you are letting the heart of art in our city die out. Without new students to fuel the creative spaces within Kwantlen Polytechnic University, the whole community will suffer. This program is crucial for musicians, and alumni are so well trained that they are immediately invited into the workforce upon graduating.
Not to mention, it is the only music school this side of the Fraser River. Alumni of music are in high demand everywhere, and cancelling this opportunity for post secondary musical education puts many students at risk and forces them to pay very high expenses for an education that should be easily obtained at a quality institute.
This program benefits youth in every way. The success of Langley and its city soul depends on many factors, and youth engagement is a key one. KPU is improving our country by supporting the arts and helping our nation be more present in the music world. Here, within the KPU walls freedom of expression and community are fostered.
Without question, the KPU music program is the heart of Langley, the hearth of creativity, the home of artists and expression. Now it is being killed. We cannot let that happen
Natalia Kondratayeva, Willoughby
