Ithaca College Theatre BIPOC Students and Alumni Call for Action
Current students and alumni from Ithaca College's nationally ranked theatre program released a letter on Friday, July 31, that unveiled racist and discriminatory experiences during their time at Ithaca College Department of Theatre Arts. The letter includes a series of time-sensitive demands and signatures from BIPOC students over the years.
The letter contains 10 immediate and long-term demands to be addressed by the Department of Theatre Arts. “By working to dismantle the white supremacist power structure through a specific course of action, the department can prove once and for all that Black students, Indigenous students, and students of color matter,” said the collective.
The first demand mandates for the department to create a committee to investigate racist and discriminatory behavior composed of departmental faculty, staff, and students. Any incidents and findings must be reported to the entire student body at the discretion of the affected student.
The second demand calls for the implementation of non-discrimination policies, DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) training, and unconscious bias training for department faculty, staff, and students with an in-depth study of anti-Black rhetoric to confront anti-Blackness in both professional and personal spheres.
Additionally, a non-discrimination policy is to be created and signed by both faculty and students within the department. If any party violates the policy, they are to be investigated by the aforementioned committee and potentially removed from the department if found guilty.
“From now on, white faculty and students must see us fully and truthfully in all our intricacies,” said ICTA BIPOC, “It is an opportunity for the department to participate in a global discourse on race and bravely face past wrongs.” required antiracism and
The collective is asking for the demands above to be enacted by Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. If the demands are not met nor publicly addressed with a definitive timeline by Oct. 1, the collective will have no choice but to call for the public resignation of department faculty and staff involved in past racist and discriminatory actions.