Chico State Students and Alums demand decolonization of theatre department

Larry Wismer Theatre at Chico State University

After months of private conversation between a student-alumni group and representatives of California State University Chico’s Theatre Department, the group has decided to make the interactions public following a virtual town hall that took months to arrange was canceled at last minute by the institution. The Northern California university joins a slew of other schools facing scrutiny over systematic practices and curriculum that promote bias and inequality within their program.

CSU Chico Alumni and Students for Change, CASC, formed after a July town hall held by the theatre department provided what the group felt were insufficient answers to these concerns. Alumni and students felt disappointed in the responses provided by faculty running the town hall.  There was no moderator, the meeting was not recorded, and a follow up was not scheduled even though it was mentioned in the meeting. “I’ve been really disappointed with the lack of transparency from the school. 

The fact that they have taken this as an attack versus an opportunity for a conversation about change boggles my mind.  I understand that accountability when it comes to the topics of race and abuse can be uncomfortable, but I really thought they cared about us enough to hear us out and actually consider what we were bringing to the table.  All we wanted was a conversation, instead, we got gaslit and talked down to”, a supporter of CASC shared.

One CASC organizer was especially troubled by a head faculty member’s words at this original town hall. “He seemed adamant that because many of the faculty members we alumni worked with are no longer there, the problems were solved. But we keep seeing cast lists that look too white and hearing stories of BIPOC students leaving the program or being really frustrated during their time there.

I fear the current faculty don’t really understand how systemic white supremacy is in theatre and theatre education. Unless they grapple with that, there will be continued harm even if unintentional. And students will join an industry undergoing an antiracism revolution and will not be prepared, based on the practices we can see at Chico.  I’m not seeing enough transparency to trust their efforts. It baffles my mind that they have refused to meet with us. I don’t know of any other theatre program resisting alumni feedback and demands right now. We aren’t doing this to ruin the program, we are trying to put practices in place that will help avoid issues in the future, no matter who works there.”

CACS responded to the institution’s pushback by compiling an official list of demands, complete with resources, timelines, and over 100 signatures from graduation dates ranging from 1986 to 2022. This document was sent directly to CSU Chico on August 21st. CASC virtually met with university representatives multiple times for both the group and the institution to listen and explain their positions. A September 30th public town hall was agreed upon by both organizations. September 29th, however, the group received an email from CSU Chico revoking their attendance.

 “Let me start by saying I take no joy in our mission having to reach this point. We were respectful and followed the chain of command for months before we decided to go public. I'm really very sad about all of it. It is in no alumni's best interest to speak out poorly about their alma mater. Please understand that this is where we are because those in power at multiple levels in the university dismissed personal experience stories and dismissed best practices”, another alumnus shared. 

The CSU Chico Alumni and Students for Change group is not free of scrutiny. Some current students voiced their frustrations that not enough was done to get them and their peers involved, leaving them out of changes that ultimately impacted them and future students. One student shared that they signed in support because the points made in the List of Demands were valid, but did so reluctantly because of lack of input from current students. Reaching out to current students was a challenge in itself for the alumni involved in CASC.

“We reached out to any current student we had a contact for and asked them to spread the word. Which clearly didn’t go as far as we had hoped. There wasn’t much else we could do without going public. If we had tried to get contact info from faculty or others, it would have violated privacy laws in their end. Some students clearly knew, but our efforts to handle this with faculty privately also meant there was no clear way of getting to the current student population in a big way.”

CASC organizers say that they would love to hear from current students and hope that they share their voices and get involved. Current student input is extremely valuable to a relevant systematic change. Additional criticism of CASC said that changes have already been made to improve equity in student experiences, noting that CASC was not acknowledging their efforts. 

While CASC continues to hope for a town hall with California State University-Chico, they have decided to make their efforts known to more than just the institution by creating a presence on social media and with a website. The group plans to post regularly to share their mission and provide transparency of their efforts.

At this time, CSU Chico has declined to adopt the recommendations made by the student-alumni group or have a town hall with said group to hear personal experiences from students and alumni. 

Complete List of Demands with Signatures: https://csuchicoalumniandstudentsforchange.com/our-demands