One year ago on July 1, the School of Theatre and Dance and the administration at Texas Tech received a call-to-action letter from students and alumni of the school.Â
The letter stated that the School of Theatre and Dance is lacking in diversity in faculty and staff as well as selection productions which have resulted in displays of tokenism and racist depictions of black, indigenous and other people of color on stage. The letter further asked for reparations and ongoing accountability, changes in institutional structure, leadership, and recruitment and focused education and programming.
The J.T. & Margaret Talkington College of Visual and Performing Arts contains the School of Art, the School of Music and the School of Theatre and Dance within the college. Genevieve DeCesaro, appointed on Sept. 1, serves as the interim dean of the college and said the college, on the whole, has taken steps to rectify the situation.