01/20/2021
In response to an incident that occurred on 1/17/21, please find our formal response below. Our response can also be found on our linktree at linktr.ee/niuaac
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To Paul Kassel, Dean of the Northern Illinois University College of Visual and Performing Arts:
In response to the overwhelming call to action from our community, this is the formal response from the Alumni Advocacy Council regarding a public social media post on the morning of 1/17/21 in which Professor Stanton Davis, Head of the BFA Acting program wrote:
“Number of plays i acted in at the University of Utah for my BFA in acting: 10 / If you count summer stock and feature films 20. My school now wants our students to be content with 3… and some scenes.”
“My first 2 years was at the University of Arizona... 3 mainstage, 3 studio 3 English Department productions with AKA. 2 feature films.”
“Number of plays i was in in Graduate School at the University of Delaware PTTP: 15. If you count summer stock 21 and one feature film. Throw in one role at the Denver center program”
“That's 50 roles stage during college and 5 SAG film roles. Let's add in student produced work.... 6 more. We get 61 chances to learn before I left college, not 5. Alexander Gelman (tagged). Kay Martinovich (tagged).”
“As far as I can tell its politics. Anti-Racism involves limiting the opportunity for all students to be in shows. I'm stumped. I came to NIU because I thought it could be a world class theatre program. Now we're mired in politics and mediocrity. But at least everyone will be comfortable.”
“Jessica Arends (tagged) sorry you are disheartened. Curtailing opportunity to be trained in order to fit into this new paradigm seems like throwing the baby out with the bathwater. We tried lessening the requirements. Now we are cutting short the opportunity. 3 fully rehearsed productions is simply not enough to be trained. I am advocating for training. And crashing. So sorry you see me this way perhaps it’s time we stop pretending at niu that we are training professional actors. Then we would all be more comfortable.”
The concern is this; the decision to make this post, as the Head of the BFA Acting program, without the appropriate context. His actions have had immediate and harmful impacts on current students, the faculty’s efforts to create a more equitable institution, and NIU SOTD’s reputation as a whole. The statement grabbed the attention of theatre professionals in his community, NIU alumni, and current students. This behavior is unprofessional, irresponsible, and inappropriate as a faculty member, as well as someone who possesses significant power and influence at our School.
We reject this educator’s suggestion that the department’s commitment to Equity, Inclusion, and Diversity work will come at the expense of the training’s integrity. We urge that this educator be held accountable for his actions.
We believe it is the responsibility of the collegiate educator to understand the circumstances in which their students and colleagues arrive in the classroom daily-- considering the intersections of race, class, gender and power.
We believe boundaries are gifts we give each other by respecting our needs. These statements are in conflict with the equitable education we are working towards and must be reconciled to protect the well-being of current and future students. These comments will have damaging effects on the capacity of the department, administration, and Alumni Advocacy Council to proceed in the necessary and immediate work that must be done toward an anti-racist institution.
For this reason, we suggest that Professor Davis temporarily step back as the Head of the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting program until he can demonstrate the appropriate understanding of anti-racism. Statements such as his serve as evidence that this predominantly white institution is in need of the proper resources and context that the Alumni Advocacy Council can provide. We are prepared to work towards a plan of action which we believe could better prepare this educator for teaching inside the “paradigm” by which he claims to be “stumped”.
We need the faculty to understand the full scope of the power they possess in their roles at NIU. Anyone can air a grievance on social media, but when the head of the BFA Acting program does so regarding potential policy change within their program, they must understand the impact. Someone who wields power in an institution must prove themselves worthy of holding such power by adhering to a standard of ethics. A professor must recognize the responsibility they have to comport themselves professionally, to protect the well-being of their students, their fellow faculty members, and the School we love.
In closing, we affirm that anti-racism work is not to blame for shifting paradigms in the theatrical training landscape. It is a remedy to the default system of superiority and classism, a system we have committed to dismantle.
Respectfully,
The NIU SOTD Alumni Advocacy Council Leadership Board
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