University of the Arts alum interviewing to join Board of Trustees says UArts failed to exhaust options before closing
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- University of the Arts alumni and community members on Tuesday discussed different avenues they could potentially take to save the school. Frank Machos, who received three degrees at UArts and now serves as the executive director of the Office of Arts and Creative Learning for the School District of Philadelphia, said he hopes to "rally the troops" to come up with a solution.
Machos, who was set to be one of the newest members on the University's Board of Trustees, said he believes the greater UArts community could come up with a way to stay open and believes university officials, including the now former president Kerry Walk, failed to explore all options.
"I certainly think there was an opportunity to engage the brain trust of the university faculty and alumni to think of some creative solutions to the problem they were up against," Machos said. "The leadership of this university not only failed the current university but the history of all the people that came before. The students past and present, a number of faculty who have been here for many, many years. I started on campus in 1998 and some of those professors are still impacting the lives of today's young folks."
Machos spent the past several months interviewing for the position on the board, and he said he expected to become a member in mid-to-late June. He had conversations with top-level university officials as recently as May.
"I did meet with Kerry Walk at one point as part of the board vetting process," Machos said. "The conversations were really about the future of the university, focusing on building programs that were going to grow the presence of the University of the Arts around the city, looking at programs that were going to serve K-12."
Those discussions are now even more confusing amid the news of the abrupt closure.
"It really seems like the folks that were aware of how dire the situation is and was kept it to themselves. I know that people that I've spoken with that are key members of this university were left out of those conversations," he said.
The list of notable University of the Arts alumni is long, from Adam Blackstone — multi-instrumentalist and musical director for the likes of Rihanna – to Kate Flannery, who played the fictional character Meredith Palmer on "The Office."
Machos said many other alumni are household names or working behind the scenes in entertainment who would've offered help, had they known in advance.
"I think if there was a call to action for the UArts family a number of people would've stepped up," Machos said. "We have musicians playing all around the country, with some of the top artists. I think they would've stepped up to have a benefit concert. I know there's a real estate portfolio that could've been reevaluated, and maybe some of the programs could've been condensed ... some of the courses shifting to online."
Former UArts President Kerry Walk has yet to make a public statement about her resignation.