Students Reestablish Life After The University of the Arts at Temple University

By Liam Giannelli & Samantha Morgan

The sudden closure of the University of the Arts (UArts) in June 2024 left many students scrambling to rebuild their academic and artistic lives. Former UArts students like Spencer Boyce and Zoe Hollander are now navigating a new academic landscape, facing challenges in finding adequate practice spaces and adjusting to a different learning environment.

Boyce, a former playwright and director, expressed frustration over the lack of communication from UArts following the closure.

 “If you want to sum up the amount of communication we got from the school on the day the school closed, the website updated their banner, and it just said, ‘we’re closed.’ And that was about it,” Boyce said.

Spencer Boyce performing a musical on UArts campus courtesy of Spencer Boyce

Hollander, another former UArts student, highlighted the sudden closure to her living situation. 

“It was a 5-minute walk for me to get to most places I needed to be, and that was the commute for three years,” Hollander said. “And then I purposely resigned my lease because I was like, ‘it’s one more year, I’ll do it. And then the school shut down.'”

 Zoe Hollander and friends exploring one of the many acting studios at UArts courtesy of Zoe Hollander.

Roughly 360 UArts students have transferred to Temple University, but they have experienced challenges in adjusting to the new university. They miss the practice spaces and the strong sense of community they experienced at UArts.

A photo of the now defunct university’s main campus courtesy of Zoe Hollander.

Despite the differences, Hollander remains optimistic.

“I have really realized how deeply ingrained Art is in our society, in our daily lives, and artists are so important and they’re not disposable,” Hollander said.