Current SU Drama Black Performance Major Demands Demand #1 - Needs signatures from Ralph Zito, Celia Madoey, Thomas Miller, and Dean Tick Hire a black professor in the acting faculty by the 2021-2022 year. ‘A. This needs to be someone who can either teach voice/verse or scene study in addition to a drama literature course B. Adda black scene study class for juniors and seniors taught by black acting faculty. This class can be counted as 320, Upper level Acting, or drama literature. This course should be able to be repeated multiple times by students. 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 will also be sought for some courses in the Spring 2021 semester The upper-level course described in 1B above will be added to the curriculum during the 2021-2022 academic year as a topics course. Course regularization will follow established procedure thereafter. Signatures: Michael Tick, Dean Wbiohacl Fick Date. 105-2020 | affirm that this document has been reviewed by, and received the concurrence of, the full faculty of the Department of Drama. | further affirm that | sign here on my own behalf and on behalf of - and with the con, faculty vate_ (2027) Demand #2 - Needs sighatures from all performance faculty, Ralph Zito, and Dean Tick Each year 40% of both the entering Acting and Musical Theatre class needs to be POC. 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. ‘A. Weneed complete transparency about the admissions process. B. The department needs to play a more prominent role in who is admitted Ralph Zito, Chair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 Michael! Tick, Dean __ Wheohael Tack. Date: 10-5-2020 \ affirm that this document has been reviewed by, and received the concurrence of, the full faculty of the Department of Drama. | further affirm that | sign here on my own behalf and on behalf of - and with the congysrence of - the Acting and Musical Theater Program faculties, vate:_ /p/-9 /Z02. Ralph Zito, Chair Demand #3 - Needs signature from Ralph Zito One spot in the mainstage season needs to be left for a play written by a playwright of color that is for the consumption of POCs. A. 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, B. 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: + Token roles written specifically for black people ‘+ Slaves and maids ‘+ Small speaking parts with little to no development + Black people enduring the traumas of colonization and racism BUT not much more in terms of the human experience 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 responsibilty for doing the necessary work does not fall entirely to students of color. This will be implemented in the season selection process for the 2021-2022 season ‘The Department will revise its casting procedures in advance of the next round of casting in order to remedy the harms addressed in B above | affirm that this document has been reviewed by, and received the concurrence of, the full faculty of the Department of Drama. | further affirm that | sign here on my own behalf and on behalf of - and with the concurrence of - the department faculty, all of whom participate in the season selection process, pare, /D/5/ 20 Ralph Zito, ChairDemand #4 - Needs signatures from all performance faculty Conversations about race need to be a part of initial table work and scene work whether oF not race explicitly affects the world of the play 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. \ affirm that this document has been reviewed by, and received the concurrence of, the full faculty of the Department of Drama. | further affirm that | sign here on my own behalf and on behalf of — and with the concurrence of - the Acting ans+“—usical Theater Program faculties. Date:_/2/5/2. 220 Demand #5 - Needs signatures from all performance faculty and Ralph Zito Inall course levels, Black students should have the opportunity to play three dimensional Black characters written by Black playwrights, White students are consistently playing three- dimensional characters which are written for them by someone like them: A. The 2nd year voice/verse emphasis on white playwrights leaves no room for POC authors. (Example: Shakespeare/RP/Gen Am, Shakespeare/Chekhov/RP. etc.) B. Black students need the opportunity to be instructed in Black American, African, and Caribbean dialects by a Black professor. C._Alll 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), Ralph Zito, Chair Fully agreed to as stated above. | atficr that this document has been reviewed by, and received the concurrence of, the full faculty of the Department of Drama. | further affirm that | sign bere on my own behalf and on behalf of — and with the copeprrence of - the Acting and Musical Theater Program faculties. Ralph Zito, Chair Date:_ so /5 2 Z/) Demand #6 - Needs signatures from Celia) tenured or tenure track faculty Either remove the preselection of studio classes for 2nd years students so students can choose their studio classes OR create a pre-registration performance consultation process where the feov, Thomas Miller, Ralph Zito, and all otherstudents, their advisor, and a panel of teachers speak about how the courses which were selected will most benefit the student’s training in the coming semesters, A. This review would occur at the end of the Ist year and the middle of the Ist semester of the 2nd year. B. When a student receives their selections, they are given the course syllabus so that they ‘can discern whether the class fits their individual goals. i.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 upcoming, registration for spring 2021 classes, is fully agreed to. | affirm that this document has been reviewed by, and received the concurrence of, the full faculty of the Department of Drama. | further affirm that | sign here on my own behalf and on behalf of ~ and with the concyrrence of ~ the Acting and Musical Theater Program faculties Ralph Zito, Chair Demand #7 - Needs-sfgnatures from Ralph Zito and all tenured or tenure track faculty that direct within the department All Black students participating in SU Drama and Syracuse Stage productions will be provided with healthy options to style their hair, including wigs and natural styles. A. The expense of this will be included in the productions” costume and hair budget. B. _Itis the department's responsibility to educate themselves on the proper hair care needs for their Black students, Fully agreed to as stated above. | affirm that this document has been reviewed by, and received the concurrence of, the full faculty of the Department of Drama. | further affirm that | sign here on my own behalf and on behaif of — and with the gancurrence of ~ the Acting and Musical Theater Program faculties Ralph Zito, Chair ‘A response from the appropriate admitristrators and faculty must be provided by the end of the day on Monday, October Sth, Additionally a date must be provided within the following 3 weeks, when the appropriate parties can speak with the black upperclassmen about how these demands will be implemented by the 2021-2022 school year. 0 hse demands are being presented by th: just a starting point. Therefore, these demands can and Finally, it must be a black performance upperclassmen, tshould be adjusted and/or destroyed by future black performance majors due to their needs and experiences within the department. Understood and agreed to, Ralph Zito, Chair date:_/ D/9/, 2020 Signed, ‘Summer Ainsworth 21° Spencer Lombardo 22° Olivia Andrews 23° Kevin Morrison 21 Blake Brewer 21° Jay Owens 23° Isaiah Brooks 21° Zoe Powell 21° Chidube Egbo 21° Davian Thomas 23 Jaelle LaGuerre 21° With Support from #TakeTheNoteSUDrama Ifyou are a Black SU Drama Alumni and you would like to add your name in support, please click here.