LSU College of Music & Dramatic Arts delivers big economic impact, dean says

Published Jul 9, 2012 at 10:00 am (Updated Jul 9, 2012)

In a guest column by the dean of the LSU College of Music and Dramatic Arts, Laurence Kaptain says the college "is one of LSU's most productive units when measured in terms of economic impact to the Baton Rouge metropolitan area." Citing an economic impact study by Americans for the Arts, a national nonprofit organization, Kaptain says the performances and events produced by the college annually bring in more than $13 million. Besides the more than 1.6 million people who hear the Tiger Marching Band in live performances annually, he says, the college—which also includes Swine Palace, LSU Opera, the School of Music and Department of Theatre—supports 465 full-time equivalent jobs. Kaptain says the college also generates more than $1.2 million in local and state taxes. "Contrary to popular belief, it would be more expensive not to have a College of Music & Dramatic Arts than to have one," Kaptain says. "Our college generates greater economic impact than the size of the allocated budgets. Taken together with the Tiger Marching Band—the most visible unit on campus after athletics—the CMDA brings to Baton Rouge measureable amounts of generated income and the immeasurable benefits of pride, creativity, civic identity and the evocative culture of live performance." Read the full column here.