HowlRound Theatre Commons: We are the Boston University School of Theatre Anti-Racist Student Initiative (BU SARSI): a collective of students, alumni, and affiliates of the aforementioned school working to transform our academic institution into an anti-racist one. After a public outpouring of testimonials from former and current students on social media detailing the myriad manifestations of racism, sexism, ableism, and more at our conservatory-style BFA theatre program, we—an ever-evolving community of justice-seekers—rallied together to innovate ways of addressing the white supremacy within it.
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This is the tipping point for a lot of institutions. Ideally, it should be a tipping point for more than just theatre. This overhaul needs to be happening in every industry. However, reading this article gave me a lot of insight into how to instill the idea of being actively anti-racist in anything that I work on. I really appreciate the act of calling an institution racist to begin to break the stigma and start to dismantle and destigmatize to prevent the act of doing the work. The type of work these students have done at Boston University should be an example for Carnegie Mellon and any other school with a BFA. Finding a way to centralize inter-sectional anti-racism is so important for us moving forward. It’s hard for me to identify the ‘most important’ part of this article. The ten different areas these students were able to identify as places their institution can grow is really smart because it doesn’t leave their list of demands scattered. An institution cannot look at this list and say “where do we start?” Instead they can pick an area to work on and begin there.
Look, I think that the work is here, and the progress will happen slowly but surely. The thing that I want these institutions to understand is that this is the beginning of the work and its no where near finished- this needs to happen for a very long time and its going to take more than a couple initiatives in the school(those fizzle out). I have a problem with articles like these because it really only aims to honk the schools horn and is highly performative- they're telling us they're not racist anymore. The fact of the matter is CMU, BU, UNCSA, etc. are BFA programs that thrive off of white people and benefit from everyone else. I have the same issue with CMU being published in the NY times for our work during the pandemic- even if I think we did way worse at adapting than other schools.
I think the movement within BU is strong and something multiple institutions should look towards. The student led movement has passion and is still demanding for change not just when the black lives movement was at a high or a "trend" on social media. I do think it is sad how much they have to push their own institution to change hundreds of years of institutionalized racism however, when institutions fail, the people must rise. The movement's acknowledgement of the mental health affects that can be created from these past racist acts is also a huge step forward as we as artist need to take care of ourselves in order to make our art. I think the biggest step the industry needs to take as a whole is acknowledging that theatre is not as diverse as they think it is. Historically in America, theatre has been predominantly white in the people making the art and the people watching. Until, theatre becomes more accessible in lower income neighborhoods and in neighborhoods that are predominantly BIPOC at the high school level, it will always support the deep rooted racism that currently plagues the industry.
I was curious to compare BU’s approach to our own. As a member of CMU’s DEI committee, I have a plethora of thoughts and feelings that I generally keep private because I consider myself to be in a place of learning when it comes to activism generally and anti-racism specifically. From this article, it seems that BU’s students/etc. developed a list of demands based on collection of data from within the school as well as the broader world. At CMU, the existing DEI committee took a similar approach--but rather than being student-driven, it was (and continues to be) faculty and staff-driven. Although it’s great that the School of Drama immediately developed a specific action plan in response to community testimonials, a significant part of the work still happens behind closed doors. Maybe that’s necessary, maybe not. In any case, I want to be able to follow student leadership in anti-racist work, and I think BU has found some things with their collectivist model that we haven’t (and maybe won’t) developed.
I was curious to compare BU’s approach to our own. As a member of CMU’s DEI committee, I have a plethora of thoughts and feelings that I generally keep private because I consider myself to be in a place of learning when it comes to activism generally and anti-racism specifically. From this article, it seems that BU’s students/etc. developed a list of demands based on collection of data from within the school as well as the broader world. At CMU, the existing DEI committee took a similar approach--but rather than being student-driven, it was (and continues to be) faculty and staff-driven. Although it’s great that the School of Drama immediately developed a specific action plan in response to community testimonials, a significant part of the work still happens behind closed doors. Maybe that’s necessary, maybe not. In any case, I want to be able to follow student leadership in anti-racist work, and I think BU has found some things with their collectivist model that we haven’t (and maybe won’t) developed.
It’s very inspiring to know that students at BU are fighting for their school to be anti-racist institution, that they are organizing a grassroots movement, and they are taking their demands to the School of Theater. For their part, the School of Theater seems to be genuinely interested in engaging with SARSI and meeting their demands. It’s very refreshing for me to see university administrations acknowledge student demands and actually work to meet them. On one side, I might feel frustrated that such an improvement is being student-driven, and that the administration isn’t doing enough, which SARSI acknowledges in their own SARSI and SOT group agreements. However, I do think that that a cultural shift within an institution has to come from all angles, and that with administrative support, a student-driven movement can be a much stronger catalyst for change. Hopefully, there cohort proves to be effective in exorcising the white supremacy that infects institutions across the United States.
An important take away from this is how BU addressed their faults and shortcomings that facilitated white supremacy within, and are now moving forward towards change. More institutions need to follow this lead in how to address the racism from within. Far too many places support anti-racist theater and BLM, yet they fail to recognize or are ignorant to how they might be exemplifying racist theater. I believe that this allows for more awareness and change to take place. Similarly, at Carnegie Mellon's Division and Equity Inclusion Meetings (which I attend), I appreciate the openness and safe spaces these movements are giving. CMU has allowed students to freely talk without being interrupted. Faculty members do not talk back, let alone talk at all. They are there to listen to the issues within the student body to better understand how they can enforce anti-racist theater.
An important take away from this is how BU addressed their faults and shortcomings that facilitated white supremacy within, and are now moving forward towards change. More institutions need to follow this lead in how to address the racism from within. Far too many places support anti-racist theater and BLM, yet they fail to recognize or are ignorant to how they might be exemplifying racist theater. I believe that this allows for more awareness and change to take place. Similarly, at Carnegie Mellon's Division and Equity Inclusion Meetings (which I attend), I appreciate the openness and safe spaces these movements are giving. CMU has allowed students to freely talk without being interrupted. Faculty members do not talk back, let alone talk at all. They are there to listen to the issues within the student body to better understand how they can enforce anti-racist theater.
This energy this movement at BU seems to have is inspiring. I am happy to see that CMU has already addressed one item that happens to appear on BU’s list of demands (Internal anti-racist training). But really this list of 10 demands made me realize how far CMU still has to come. When trying to confront racism at CMU within my own head I often focused on personal accountability and dismantling the cultural norms. I never deeply considered the more “tangible” things CMU could be doing. The inequity in the audition and selection process at CMU (and basically every other theater conservatory) is horrifying. The lack of accessibility of courses that explore other cultures in the School of Drama is deeply saddening. The distinct lack of representation of underrepresented groups in the faculty and staff is inexcusable. For me, this article definitely reinforced that there is much more I need to be doing and advocating for than just examining my personal biases.
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