No Final Curtain for Stanford Drama : Funding: The university’s renowned theater department survives severe budget cuts, but the program still faces an uncertain future.

Stanford University’s prestigious department of drama, facing elimination amid a $43-million campus budget deficit, has survived for more curtain calls.

But the program still faces cutbacks and a worrisome future. Budget reductions announced this week--which must be approved by the board of trustees in April--were greeted by a somber audience. Programs have been proposed for mergers and some vacant faculty positions will remain so.

“They kept us,” said Michael Ramsaur, drama department chairman. “But they are still asking for a large hunk of flesh. It’s about a 25% cut in total operational costs of the department.”

The department has been ordered to trim $180,000 of its $1.2 million budget and to eliminate two of its eight tenure-line positions. Cutbacks might also reduce lecture positions and support staff--affecting acting, production and design instruction--as well as force cost reductions in the department’s dozen or so annual plays.

The department’s scholar-director graduate program will remain, Ramsaur said, as will a separate black performing arts program, but it could fall under the umbrella of the drama department or African and Afro-American studies to save administrative costs.

The campaign to save the department was dramatic. Administrators received hundreds of letters from alumni, graduates of the program and others who vehemently opposed closing the department.

Stanford’s drama department, unlike many U.S. theater programs, combines a doctorate plan with performance experience. It is rated among the nation’s best. Stanford alumni, who hold important positions at major theaters and universities across the country and in the film and TV industries, urged humanities dean Ewart Thomas to preserve the program.

The drama program was the only department publicly mentioned as a candidate for closure. Said department administrator Ron Davies: “In the ‘80s, the university, just like the rest of the country, spent more money than it had. . . . Those of us in drama have felt singled out as a scapegoat.”

Ramsaur said future funding will have to come from diverse sources. He will focus on fund raising, starting with a visit to Los Angeles on Monday. Ramsaur is scheduled to meet with one of Stanford’s newest alumni chapters, Stanford Alumni in Entertainment, an ardent supporter of the department.