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SAVE DARTINGTON COLLEGE
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Letter of Support
Barry Cooper
Professor of Music, University of Manchester
Dear Sir/Madam,
This is to lend my support to efforts to maintain Dartington College of Arts in its current location. I would urge that Dartington Hall Trust and Dartington College of Arts take whatever steps are necessary to find ways of overcoming the present difficulties and remaining on site.
Dartington College of Arts deserves saving in its current form, not least because of its unique circumstances that make it particularly special as compared with other institutes of higher education. It also has an excellent record in its field, and has become particularly important for the region and the county as a result of the closure of the music department at the University of Exeter. Closures of the kind threatened for Dartington are almost always misguided, and based on short-term views that cause significant loss over a longer period. Having myself been in a Music Department that was inappropriately closed — that at Aberdeen University — I have seen this sort of mistake made before. At Aberdeen, a combination of weak and false reasons was used as an excuse for closure, and transfer of staff (including myself) elsewhere, but some years later the university authorities came to their senses and have since reopened the department. I fear that any such reopening would be more difficult to achieve at Dartington, so I would urge that the mistake is not made in the first place, and that sense is seen before any irrevocable action of this kind can be taken.
I have nothing against Falmouth and the Combined Universities of Cornwall, and would be very happy to see higher-education facilities in music being set up and developed there. But doing this through moving the Dartington College staff and facilities would clearly be a waste of valuable resources, a major disruption to staff etc., with concomitant stress and inconvenience, and with little or no gain for anyone. Thus I must reiterate my plea to those involved to find solutions and ways of developing Dartington’s reputation and infrastructure without destroying so many years of building up such a valuable institution.
Barry Cooper
Professor of Music
University of Manchester

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