To the editor:

Kansas University’s closure of the anthropology museum’s exhibitions and public programming is a truly bad idea. It undermines both the university’s mission of educating the community and of teaching the value of civic involvement to KU students.

Recently, KU co-sponsored a community forum at the Lied Center where the featured speaker, Robert Putnam, talked about the crisis of fragmenting local communities and solutions to this including the essential role of local museums as forums for building “social capital.” The Museum of Anthropology’s exhibits, despite inadequate budget and facilities, successfully involved disparate segments of our local and regional community. The annual American Indian art exhibit is but one notable example. Such efforts are promoted by the American Association of Museums, through their nationwide Museum and Community Initiative.

I teach a required course on museum exhibitions in KU’s masters program in historic administration and museum studies. The museum was my students’ laboratory: providing opportunities for critiques, exhibition planning and performance of required intern hours. The museum’s absence will weaken the ability of this program to attract top students and will diminish students’ educational experience. Upon graduation, many students take low-paying jobs in small community museums, often in Kansas and often at low salaries. Yet they graduate with a sense of commitment to their intended profession as well as with the skills necessary to help their institutions make a difference in their communities. The closure of the anthropology museum will have far-reaching effects KU administrators may not have anticipated.

Patricia Graham,

Lawrence