Theatre & Dance

Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion are essential to the core values of the Department of Theatre and Dance at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.  We commit to working to realize those values in class, rehearsal, season selection, casting, and all other artistic collaborations.  We value the wide range of perspectives and voices that add to the stories we are able to tell, and they can only be heard when all cultural and personal perspectives are present.

Statement of Solidarity  

Adapted from DNA Works – Dialogue and Healing Through the Arts and Northeastern University College of Arts, Media, and Design  

Black Lives Matter. 

Black students, staff, and faculty matter. 

Black families, histories, futures, bodies, hearts, and minds matter.  

Black, Indigenous, and People of Color matter. 

Under-represented groups matter.  

We, the faculty and staff of the Department of Theatre and Dance, grieve the murders of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and all lives lost and impacted by racial violence in the past 400 years. We stand in solidarity with the Black students, staff and faculty in our department, our university, our city, and our country.  

We believe in the virtues of dialogue, patience, and respect. We recognize our department’s and our field’s shortcomings and past mistakes. As educators, we are constantly learning and will hold ourselves to a higher standard.  

We are both witnesses to and participants in a movement for powerful systemic change. We recognize our privilege as part of this university, and we recognize our power to affect change. This is the time to re-examine our civil liberties and duties and to use the power of our voices and our votes to ensure that all in our society can breathe freely. Systemic transformation will not be smooth, and we will stumble. Yet, we will turn our outrage into action, with a renewed commitment to end of all forms of racism and racial violence.  

We know that, ultimately, we will be judged not for statements like these but for our actions going forward. We charge all of us to personally and collectively work toward the eradication of all forms of racism and racial violence. We thank those of you who are already doing this work. We thank those of you who are supporting people who are doing this work. We believe that peace is possible in our lifetimes.  

Department of Theatre and Dance Pledge:  

COMMUNITY AND GENEROSITY  
We commit to fostering conversations, exchanges, and experiences that empower, spark and challenge us to think and act responsibly and empathetically among our artistic community at UWL, the greater La Crosse area, and beyond.  

ENGAGEMENT AND COLLABORATION
We commit to deconstructing the existing barriers of exclusion to motivate and uplift; we will foster relationships across cultural boundaries to facilitate an inclusive and accessible artistic community at UWL, the greater La Crosse area, and beyond.  

CREATIVITY AND RIGOR  
We commit to looking beyond received wisdom to intentionally engage with high-quality and dynamic works, to ask hard questions about the world, our source materials, and who we are as people through creative exploration and self-expression.  

RESPECT  
We commit to acknowledging and embracing the unique identities of each and every member of our community; we promise to treat each other as equals, regardless of our differences, and to choose humanity in the face of conflict.  

INTEGRITY  
We commit to creating a diverse community where any individual can speak freely and honestly; we aim to recognize and use our privilege to advocate for underrepresented voices at UWL, the greater La Crosse area, and beyond.