Responding to the Call

1. This needs to be someone who can either teach voice/verse or scene study in addition to a drama literature course.

In Spring 2020, the University paused faculty hiring due to the uncertainties around the potential impact of the global coronavirus pandemic. The University has since restarted faculty hiring on a limited basis, including hiring under the cluster hire initiative, the diversity opportunity hiring initiative, and in very limited cases regular replacement hires. The current pause in University hiring could prevent an immediate full-time hire. In the interim, the department commits to pursuing opportunity hires of Black visiting or part-time instructors (local or remote) to fill the equivalent full-time course load (6 courses) beginning with the 2021-22 academic year, and continuing until such time as full-time hires can be made. Opportunity hires were also sought for some courses in the Spring 2021 semester.

1. This class can be counted as [DRA] 320, Upper-level Acting, or drama literature. This course should be able to be repeated multiple times by students.

This course will be added to the curriculum during the 2021-2022 academic year as a topics course. Course regularization will follow established procedure thereafter.

If we are a world class program preparing students to work in NYC where the POC population is over 55% and LA where the POC population is over 45%, we need the department to reflect that.

1. We need complete transparency about the admissions process.
2. The department needs to play a more prominent role in who is admitted.

We all share these goals: increased diversity of the entering classes; an increased role for the department in the admissions process; and transparency. We are committed to working with the Office of Enrollment and the Student Experience on all counts so that these goals can be reached.

On November 6, 2020 the department arranged for a meeting among currently enrolled Black students, key members of the Office of Enrollment and the Student Experience (including Vice President for Enrollment Services Ryan Williams, Dean of Admissions Maurice Harris, and Associate Dean of Admissions Nancy Machles Rothschild), and Dean Tick. This meeting provided an opportunity for students to directly express their concerns and to have their questions answered.

During the current admissions cycle, department faulty worked with currently enrolled students to offer information sessions and other opportunities directly aimed at increasing the diversity of the incoming class.

1. Create a committee of students of color who can ensure that the play is not chosen for the white gaze and that it is fitting for the students of color currently in the program. Students will provide 3-5 mainstage options for this specific spot in the season. This committee and all future student committees doing consulting work for the department need to be paid.
2. In shows which are not written for actors of color, POCs SHOULD STILL BE CONSIDERED but should be cast consciously. Typically Black people have been cast as: 
   1. Token roles written specifically for Black people
   2. Slaves and maids
   3. Small speaking parts with little to no development
   4. Black people enduring the traumas of colonization and racism

Agreed to as stated in 3A and 3B above, pending any and all necessary approval of compensating students for committee work (via stipend, honorarium, or other means), and with the additional request that faculty be required to offer titles for consideration by the student committee, so that the responsibility for doing the necessary work does not fall entirely to students of color.

Department faculty are currently in conversation with currently enrolled Black students in order to find a mutually agreeable interim option to meet the spirit of this demand for the 2021-22 season, since administrative considerations above the department level prevented the timely formation of the committee.

The department is undertaking an ongoing revision of its casting  and season selection procedures in order to remedy the harms addressed in B above. For the upcoming round of casting, interim processes are being implemented to incorporate student core identity concerns, content concerns, and learning goals into the casting process for Fall 2021 shows. We will continue to expand and evolve practices that center authentic and identity-conscious casting, and to build production practices that center the needs and interests of students.

Please see Motions 1, 2, 6, 8, and 9 here, as approved by the faculty on May 19, 2021.

A. Race is an integral part of the human experience (including the white experience and white privilege). To not evaluate it and its effects is inauthentic to the experiences which a Black actor (or any actor) brings to the world of the play.

Fully agreed to as stated above, with the additional requirement that, for department productions, an appropriately knowledgeable facilitator (e.g., dramaturg, theater historian, historian, sociologist, etc.) be brought in to work with the director and company to guide the conversation. The department also will continue to engage in ongoing training in this area for all faculty.

Integration of appropriately facilitated conversations became part of the department’s practice for all productions that began rehearsal following the receipt of these demands.

Please see Motion 6 here, as approved by the faculty on May 19, 2021.

1. The 2nd year voice/verse emphasis on white playwrights leaves no room for POC authors. (Example: Shakespeare/RP/Gen Am, Shakespeare/Chekhov/RP, etc.)
2. Black students need the opportunity to be instructed in Black American, African, and Caribbean dialects by a Black professor.
3. All scene studies should include a survey asking students what their desired learning objectives for the semester are. Black students should be allowed to request only Black scenes (by Black authors).

Fully agreed to as stated above. Implementation began with the spring 2021 semester, and has become a regular part of the department’s curricular and planning process.

1. This review would occur at the end of the 1st year and the middle of the 1st semester of the 2nd year.
2. When a student receives their selections, they are given the course syllabus so that they can discern whether the class fits their individual goals.
   1. On the syllabus the professor needs to list the material they have used in class over their last five years at SU, so that students of color can avoid teachers who have chosen not to use material by playwrights of color.

The cessation of the sophomore level pre-selection process, beginning with the registration for spring 2021 classes, is fully agreed to. Additionally, the Curriculum Task Force is considering further recommendations to improve communication, clarity, and transparency with regard to syllabi and course materials.

1. The expense of this will be included in the productions’ costume and hair budget.
2. It is the department’s responsibility to educate themselves on the proper hair care needs for their Black students.

Agreed and underway. All relevant members of the Production Department and Costume Shop staff have taken a workshop with Jerrilyn Lanier-Duckworth. Appropriate personnel have been in contact with shop managers at peer theater institutions to gather information from them about resources and best practices. We continue to be in contact with local salons to develop working relationships. We have established policies and practices for internal use and for the employment of guest artists for our productions. The department has committed the necessary resources to adequately support our Black students via the purchase or rental of necessary hair and makeup supplies. We will also address this concern via the theater design and technology curriculum, using the above workshop as a foundation for curricular change/expansion.

Signed responses were delivered on October 5, 2021 and the first in a series of meetings (see timeline) was held on October 23, 2021.

Understood and agreed to.

1. One of the current openings in the Design faculty must be filled by a Black professor by the 2021-2022 year.
2. One of the current openings in the Design faculty must be filled by a WOC professor by the 2021-2022 year.
3. These professors in Stage Management and Design must be eligible to advise students on show assignments.

We all share the goal of diversifying the faculty in all programs of study within the department, expanding upon the history of faculty diversity that had existed in the theater design and technology program for well over 20 years. Although we cannot promise that our efforts will be successful, we commit to using University hiring initiatives (as described below) and our best efforts to achieve these shared goals.

In Spring 2020, the University paused faculty hiring due to the uncertainties around the potential impact of the global coronavirus pandemic. The University has since restarted faculty hiring on a limited basis, including hiring under the cluster hire initiative, the diversity opportunity hiring initiative, and in very limited cases regular replacement hires. Although the current pause in University hiring could prevent an immediate full-time hire, the department and the college have established the hiring of a tenure-track position in theater design and technology as a top priority. In the interim, the department commits to pursuing opportunity hires of visiting or part-time instructors (local or remote) to teach courses in all three nonperformance programs (theater design and technology, stage management, and theater management) beginning with the 2021-22 academic year, and continuing until such time as full-time hires can be made. Opportunity hires will also be sought for some courses in the Spring 2021 semester.

Prior to undertaking four faculty searches this year (three in design/tech, one in musical theater dance), the faculty reviewed and revised its practices and procedures related to the conceiving, advertising, and reviewing of position descriptions and applications. This revision was undertaken with consultation from colleagues in the School of Education and the Faculty Affairs Office. The goals of the revision included expanding and increasing the diversity of our applicant pool, correcting for implicit bias, and centering Diversity and Inclusion as core values in the search and hiring process.

Although all searches are currently ongoing, overall our initial applicant and finalist pools are noticeably more diverse than they have been in prior years.

1. All current faculty must complete one anti-racism course by the end of the spring 2021 semester.

During the Drama Faculty Zoom Retreat (August 18-20), 8 of 12 hours were devoted to workshops on: Decolonizing the Syllabus; Creating Transparent Assignments; Addressing Micro & Macro Aggression and Body Shaming in the Classroom. These were led by the Center for Learning and Teaching Excellence and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Throughout the course of the academic year, many faculty members participated in one or more of the following training opportunities: Anti-Racist Theater Training (Nicole Brewer); Voices Matter – Why You Need to Talk About Race (Chandice Haste-Jackson & Jeff Mangram); Student/Faculty Dialogue Circle About Race (El-Hindi Center for Dialogue, InterFaith Works).

The department is developing ongoing faculty training(s) in partnership with the Office of Faculty Affairs, the Center for Learning and Teaching Excellence and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.

Consistent with University practice regarding faculty training, we envision that training will occur annually, rather than on a per semester basis.

1. This committee must consist of at least 50% BIPOC students.
2. There must be representation from all majors on this committee.
3. The positions on this committee must be paid or available as for-credit theater management internships.

With the acknowledgement that the responsibility and accountability for the play selection process rests with the faculty, we welcome the opportunity to expand upon the agreements made with performance majors, and to include student voices as described in 3A and 3B above. Item 3C above is agreed to, pending any and all necessary approval of compensating students for committee work (via stipend, honorarium, or other means) or providing for-credit internships.

Department faculty are currently in conversation with currently enrolled Black students in order to find a mutually agreeable interim option to meet the spirit of this demand for the 2021-22 season, since administrative considerations above the department level prevented the timely formation of the committee.

The department is undertaking an ongoing revision of its casting and season selection procedures in order to remedy the harms addressed in B above. For the upcoming round of casting, interim processes were implemented to incorporate student core identity concerns, content concerns, and learning goals into the casting process for Fall 2021 shows. We will continue to expand and evolve practices that center authentic and identity-conscious casting, and to build production practices that center the needs and interests of students.

Please see Motions 1, 2, 6, 8, and 9 here, as approved by the faculty on May 19, 2021.

1. One member of faculty for each area will take responsibility for this to ensure accountability and transparency
2. This needs to begin as soon as this semester

While fiscal or logistical limitations may prevent the participation of a total of 6 speakers (2 per program) per semester, we agree in principle to the need for an increased number of BIPOC guest speakers in the nonperformance areas. We commit to ensuring a balance of area-specific guests and nonperformance professionals whose experience and expertise will be of value to all nonperformance majors.

Of 34 guest artist/guest instructor/class visitor requests approved in the department for Fall 2020, 31 of them were for artists who identify as BIPOC. All guest artist/guest instructor/class visitor requests approved for Spring 2022 were for artists who identify as BIPOC.

1. Materials should be chosen on the basis of will this teach us a new perspective?
2. In the design area this material should include books and materials on how to design for BIPOC performers

We agree with the goal of providing a variety of perspectives in the classroom, and increasing the skills of students in working with BIPOC artists.

In addition to the voluntary steps already undertaken, in October a faculty task force revised all relevant catalog course descriptions (approximately 100 total courses) in order to explicitly mandate an emphasis on inclusive course material. Those revisions will be in effect for the 2021-22 academic year.

A second task force – which includes mandated consultation with alumni and students – has begun work on deeper curricular revisions that might include adding, removing, substantially revising, and/or reordering curricular requirements.

In the continued interest of setting clear expectations, it is important to bear in mind that this is an area where – absent official curricular reform, which can take one to two years – the principle of academic freedom places limits on the extent to which changes to syllabi or curricula can be externally compelled. We commit to a diversification of course materials to the extent that such diversification does not either exceed the limits of the existing NYSED-approved curriculum, nor impinge upon academic freedom.

1. Anti-racism in management
2. How to design for BIPOC actors (costume,hair, make-up, lighting)
3. In all non-performance intro classes (DRM 194, DRD 141, DRM 251) there must be a unit on anti-racism and calling out racism in the rehearsal room. This unit needs to be taught by a BIPOC professor

We agree with the goal of equipping stage managers, designers, and managers with the tools to respond to discrimination and to foster anti-racist work environments. As stated in #5 above, the faculty has already planned to undertake a thorough curricular review over the course of the coming nine months. To ensure full curricular support for this goal, we will work to specify which courses this will apply to and how.

1. Any faculty member credibly accused of discrimination will immediately have their directing privileges revoked until they complete further anti-bias training.
2. Allegations of discrimination made to production or stage management must be brought to the Department Chair either by the production manager or the appropriate student representative.
3. A student oversight board will be instated to oversee the disciplinary process of faculty and students who are accused of discrimination in any form.
   1. This committee will be kept up to date (with-in legal bounds) about the disciplinary process of all active discrimination allegations in the department of drama.
   2. This is only meant to create accountability and not push responsibility to the students on the board.

We commit to fully educating the Department community about existing procedures and resources, including – but not limited to – The Dean of Students Office; The Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services Office; The Office of Diversity and Inclusion; and the VPA Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. Although it is beyond the scope of authority of the faculty, the Chair, or the Dean to establish new oversight or disciplinary processes for faculty or students, we nonetheless hold ourselves accountable for seeing to it that any concerns brought to our attention are referred to the appropriate offices and addressed by them to the fullest possible extent.

Please see Motion 5 here, as approved by the faculty on May 19, 2021.

1. There needs to be increased transparency in the admissions process
   1. The department will identify the point(s) within the admissions process that have the largest impact on BIPOC student representation and come up with a clearly defined plan of action to deal with these issues.
2. The department will actively create an environment that retains BIPOC students
   1. Acknowledging that grades have real world consequences for students on scholarships.
   2. Anti-racist curriculum, BIPOC faculty and advisors, and everything mentioned above.

We all share the goals of increased diversity of the entering classes and increased retention of BIPOC students, as well as transparency. We are committed to working with the Office of Enrollment and the Student Experience on all counts so that these goals can be reached.

On November 6, 2020 the department arranged for a meeting among currently enrolled Black students, key members of the Office of Enrollment and the Student Experience (including Vice President for Enrollment Services Ryan Williams, Dean of Admissions Maurice Harris, and Associate Dean of Admissions Nancy Machles Rothschild), and Dean Tick. This meeting provided an opportunity for students to directly express their concerns and to have their questions answered.

During the current admissions cycle, department faculty worked with currently enrolled students to offer information sessions and other opportunities directly aimed at increasing the diversity of the incoming class.

Signed responses were delivered on October 14, 2021 (with periodic updates as to the progress of the responses delivered October 11 -13). A meeting was held on October 28, 2021.

Understood and agreed to.