Retired Dance Professor Jenkins Dies

UL Lafayette’s School of Music and Performing Arts is saddened to announce that Professor Kenneth Jenkins passed away on Thursday June 16th, 2022.  Professor Jenkins began his career at UL Lafayette (then the University of Southwestern Louisiana) in August of 1988, and was an active member of the faculty until his retirement in December of 2019. During his time at UL, he taught advanced modern technique, dance composition, and choreography to generations of students. In his more than 31 years on the Performing Arts faculty, he served as Coordinator of Dance for 23 years, and took an active role in the annual dance concerts State of LA Danse (which he began co-directing in 1992) and An Evening of Dance. Prof. Jenkins maintained a robust and creative choreographic resume' for departmental dance and musical theatre productions, as well as for a number of University, community, and state special events and celebrations.  A native of Washington, D.C., he completed his graduate studies at the Florida State University then trained and worked professionally in New York City with numerous seminal modern dance artists.  He was an involved community volunteer, donating his time to area charities including the AIDS task force of Acadiana, the Lafayette Coalition for the Homeless, and St. Joseph's Diner.

Professor Jenkins' work in the Dance program at UL Lafayette has had a significant and far-reaching impact on his past students, and has laid the groundwork for the ongoing development and growth of the program in the future.  He will be missed.

Information on a celebration of Prof. Jenkins' life will be announced once arrangements are confirmed.