01 - The Death of the Unicorn
Hello, everyone!
I’ve been thinking for a long while about wanting to put some of my writing onto my website, and I figured one of the best ways to do so would be to create a blog! Occasionally, perhaps monthly or so, I plan on publishing a short rambling about situations or thoughts that I’ve been having or going through. The first of which is going to be this post, which pertains to the closure of my old university. I figure it’s a hell of a way to start.
Arty the Unicorn
A drawing I did after the shutdown of The University of the Arts, reinterpreting our mascot.
I still remember those cool summers of my childhood. The way that the wind shifted the towering trees of my neighborhood, and the occassional coo of mourning doves.
I was sitting out in the driveway when I was about seven years old, and I was drawing with chalk. My father was working on a car nearby, and would occasionally stop to come look at what I’d scribbled onto the blacktop. He would offer advice and compliments, and occasionally request that I draw specific things. It was a way to keep me busy, I think. Mostly in a way that he could keep an eye on me while my mother puttered about in our little yellow house.
Sometimes, my father would draw with me. He’d draw dragons, robots, princesses, and, most impressively, unicorns. He could effortlessly draw them, like he’d done it a million times before. The face, the mane, the horn, the eyes — All of it was so easy to him. I remember sitting on the driveway, watching him work, and I asked him how he did it.
He told me plainly: “If you can see it in your head, you can draw it.”
It was simple, almost deceptively so. But the sentiment stuck with me thoughout my childhood, to the point that when I finished up highschool, I knew what I wanted to pursue.
It was poetic that the mascot for the unversity I applied to was also a Unicorn. Arty the Unicorn, to be exact. Mascot for The University of The Arts in Philidelphia.
UArts was the only school I applied to, and I remember how proud my dad was when I got the acceptance letter in the mail. It all felt so perfect and easy. I didn’t realize what was going to happen. I don’t think anyone did.
For three leisurely years, I was having the time of my life. It was such a huge change in scenery from me, especially coming from slower, lower, Delaware of all places. The huge buildings were landmarks all on their own, and I remember walking up Broad Street and just staring at all the different, glittery, lights. At night, it was even better. Dark spires that took bites out of the sky, and the golden glow of lights.
I loved University. I made great friends, met like-minded peers, and established myself in a few artist circles that I still engage with. Sure, there were Hiccups. The dorms were haphazard and the food was dubious, but I wasn’t planning on letting a bit of negativity bog me down.
By the time Junior year rolled around, I was optimistically anxious for the future. I knew what I was pursuing for my Senior Thesis, I’d finally declared a Creative Writing Minor, and I had jobs lined up for the summer. Everything that year ended on a high note, and we were all looking forward to the inevitable jitters that Senior Year would bring.
Then the school shut down.
The Arty Plushie
At the end of my Freshman year, in 2022, UArts started offering plushies of our school mascot, Arty!
On June 2nd, at 3:26pm, the President on the University sent out a school wide email, blindsiding both the faculty and student body with the sudden closure of UArts. We were informed we had less than a week to get our affairs in orders, and that the University would fully shut down on June 7th of 2024, a measly five days away.
I called my friends, obviously. I’d been rooming with them for Sophmore and Junior year, and had planned to do so for Senior year as well. We didn’t believe it, it had to be some cruel joke. I was sobbing, and I remember my mother trying to ask me what was going on. I could only distressingly shout that my University had shut down, and I didn’t know what else to do.
That entire night was a blur. I talked to friends and classmates, I drank, and I considered the Idea that everything I had planned was suddenly down the drain.
For the next five days, it was hell on earth.
Everyone scrambled. I downloaded everything I could from my school accounts. I ordered my transcripts, I contacted my professors, and I applied to neighboring universities offering to take us in. By the time June 7th rolled around, I had applied to a school, gotten everything online, and attended multiple meetings about the University’s shutdown.
There was an abundance of speculation about what had happened to UArts as well. The School had lost its accreditation, and no one was getting any money back. The entire thing started to feel more and more like a scam, with students and faculty both having no idea what was going on behind the scenes. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education had hosted meetings to explain what they could, and from what was offered the story started to come together. The University had simply run out of funding.
The entire thing didn’t make sense. UArts’ board of administrators stated that they’d host a meeting to give out more information, only to cancel that meeting ten minutes before it was supposed to begin. Students were left confused and outraged, especially at the so-called “Financial Fragility” of our school. (Yes, that it how it was referred to in the email we recieved.)
By the end of the week, I had everything in as much order as it could possibly be. The Weekend of the Closure, I attended a meeting thrown together by Moore’s College of Art and Design, who was one of the neighboring Universities in Philadelphia. I met up with my friends and roomates, and we all finally reached a decision.
August of 2024, I started my Senior year at a university I had never stepped foot in. My dorm was replaced by an apartment complex located twenty minutes away from the school’s main building. I was lucky enough to still have my friends from UArts rooming with me.
The situation wrecked me for a bit, alongside most of the UArts transfers. The sudden change in atmosphere was horrible at first. MCAD suffered from a rampent bullying problem. Within the first week were were ostracized by decent portion of the Moore student body. We had been promised a multitude of things when switching schools, and were ensured we were going to undergo a “Seamless Transfer Process.”
The process was so far from seamless that the idea quickly became a joke. What was worse was that we weren’t the only University that had suddenly transferred into MCAD. Delaware College of Art and Design also had shut down earlier that year, meaning many of their students were now attending MCAD alongside us.
Somehow, we’d factioned ourselves off. Attempting to voice our complaints or frustrations never did much. Many of the Moore students regarded us as if we were entitled for simply wanting clarification about things or the very things that MCAD’s administrative staff had promised us. Things such as accessiblity, transportation, credit coverage, G.P.A. continuity, or guaranteed placement in the classes we needed to finish our degrees. We barely recieved any of that.
My Senior year at Moore, at the time of writing this, is about to wrap up. In all honesty, it’s been a strange mix of underwhelming and overstimulating. Granted, many members of the faculty have been sweet and have made genuine efforts to streamline the process for us transfers. I’ve also met plenty of preexisting Moore Students who have been kind and understanding of our situation. But that doesn’t negate the fact that the amount of distance between us and them has not altered at all since the beginning of the school year.
The Prototype Arty (and Arizona)
After the closure, I managed to get my hands on the Original Arty Plush prototype. This one has no tag, but has a fun emblem on the side of him. Tortise for scale.
I know I’m not even scraping the surface of what’s happened at Moore so far, but a lot of things are not my place to discuss. Many negative moments revolve around my closest friends, and regard topics like racism, homophobia, and transphobia. I don’t want to go to indepth on those on my first blog post, but I do think I will go further into detail about those later down the line. For now, this is where I’ll sign off for now.
