Provost Peter Lange’s arts subsidy—a program that used discretionary funds to provide $5 tickets for students to most performances on campus—has proven to be a success, and it should continue next year.
Since the program began, attendance at campus performances has increased by 300 percent. This means that almost 3,000 tickets to events have been purchased by undergraduate and graduate students. This boost in attendance is magnificent and is a real tribute to the health of the arts on campus.
In the past, Duke has lacked a strong cultural scene with few students attending the plays and concerts brought to campus by the Duke University Union and Duke Performances. Perhaps the root of the problem was the high ticket prices for many of those events. Now, since tickets are only $5, more students are finding time to attend these cultural events. Since a cultural element on campus is something the University is striving for, it makes sense to continue subsidizing tickets next year.
The majority of the increase, however, has come from graduate students. The next goal of the University should be promoting these events among undergraduate students who can also benefit from the ticket subsidy.
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