About 500 Syracuse University drama students and alumni have signed a call to action urging the department to address “pervasive institutional racism” and alleging that faculty members have made racist comments.

The organizers behind the call to action say the document is an attempt to unravel a deep-rooted culture in the department that is permissive of racist behavior by students and faculty. Courtney Green, an organizer and SU Drama alumna, said Tuesday that the group has collected 39 testimonials from students and alumni about racism in the department.

The allegations involve at least four faculty members from SU Drama, Green said.

“It is a culture there,” said Djuna Knight, another organizer and SU Drama alumna. “It is not just incidents of racism — (the department) is steeped in racism, in a really real way.”

The organizers came together in light of recent mass protests against police brutality and racial injustice across the country, they said. Organizer and SU Drama alumna Libby Hall said seeing other universities address racial injustice on their campuses spurred the group to take action.

The group sent a form to SU Drama students and alumni encouraging them to sign the call to action or share their experiences with racism in the department. Organizers included excerpts from the testimonials they received in the final document, some of which describe non-Black faculty members commenting on Black students’ appearances or using the N-word.

“The systemic racism at Syracuse University permeates in the Drama Department so deeply that even after graduation I felt it,” one excerpt reads.

The quotes included in the call to action are fragments of pages-long accounts of racist incidents SU Drama students have experienced or witnessed during their time in the department, said organizer Casey Boykins, who graduated from SU Drama in 2018.

“There were so many testimonials from students, and also testimonials from students who were years apart that sounded like they were written in the same year,” Boykins said. “Some of the things teachers were saying, you could tell it was a history of behavior.”

“I think it proves nothing has been done about these things for years,” she said.

The call to action lists nine immediate and 11 long-term demands to SU Drama to address racism within the department. The first immediate demand calls for the “swift removal” of faculty who have exhibited racist behavior toward students.

The second demand mandates that the department replace all faculty removed for racist behavior with faculty members of color. The organizers’ other immediate demands include issuing a formal apology to Black and indigenous students and alumni of color, putting faculty members through implicit bias training and reorganizing the department’s senior showcase to be open to all graduating performance majors.

The long-term demands include expanding scholarship opportunities for Black, indigenous and students of color, establishing more effective forums for students of color to voice their concerns and postponing any production that sees two or more students of color drop out due a race-related incident.

The organizers chose their demands based on suggestions from students and alumni and common themes identified in the testimonials they received, Green said.

“The demands all came from first-hand experiences,” Knight said.

SU Drama alum and actor Cheech Manohar lent his support to the call to action and shared his own experiences with racism at SU Drama in an Instagram post. “The racism at this school infects your students, and then follows us, unyielding and destructive,” he wrote.

My letter in support of the Call to Action for SU Drama.
I am a big advocate for tertiary education. I would not be the artist I am today if it were not for the training I received at Syracuse University. To the true faculty allies, you know who you are, and I thank you. I learned many wonderful things in my time there. I have had to unlearn many less than wonderful things since leaving.
#TaketheNoteSUDrama #NotAgainSU
Visit @c.rikkigreen to read and support the Call to Action.

A photo posted by cheechmanohar

Ralph Zito, chair of SU Drama, responded to the call to action in a statement to the organizers. Zito said he is committed to action but some of the demands would require long-term cooperation with faculty and other university offices.

Zito did not comment directly on the allegations leveled against faculty members in SU Drama.

“I affirm that our (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) students and alumni deserve better, as does our whole community, and I apologize for my actions and/or inactions that have added to your pain,” Zito said. “I pledge my full advocacy in behalf of swift and meaningful action; open communication; and accountability by those responsible for decision-making.”

SU Drama has already taken steps toward meeting some of the demands, including the implementation of anti-racism training for faculty and staff and the reorganization of the senior showcase, Zito said.

Organizers said they thought Zito’s response was adequate, but it did not satisfy their desire for long-term reform. The department’s actions moving forward will show whether SU Drama is committed to change, they said.

“It was kind of refreshing to see (Zito) actually take a stand and actually comment on the issue that’s happening, and how he’s willing to do something in his power,” said organizer Kara Cooper. “I was happy to really see him step up at that point.”

“Going forward, the only adequate response is action,” Knight said.

Published on June 17, 2020 at 1:03 pm

Contact Chris: cjhippen@syr.edu