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Antiracism Commitment and Action Plan

Our Commitment

The UIC School of Theatre and Music (STM) condemns racism in all its forms. We commit to challenging and dismantling systemic racial bias. We take action to create and sustain an academic and artistic community that contributes to a just and equitable world.

Action Plan
We commit to the following actions:

Maintain an STM Antiracism Advisory Committee (AAC) led by an Associate Director to support work in access, equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging. 

Recruit and support a student population that reflects the diverse makeup of the city of Chicago.

Grow and sustain curricular programming that reflects the breadth of diversity of the world’s artistic communities.

Recruit, hire, and support a diverse faculty and staff that reflects the student population of UIC and the city of Chicago.

Provide ongoing inclusivity education and resources for students.

Advocate for greater institutional student access to academic and mental health support.

Provide ongoing inclusivity training, resources, and professional development for faculty, staff, and administration.

Maintain and review processes for addressing incidents of bias.

Require space on departmental and school faculty agendas for reporting progress on antiracist initiatives and for soliciting participation.

Invite all students, faculty, and staff members of the STM community to participate in and contribute to the AAC.

Hold leadership, administration, and the STM AAC accountable to enact the commitments above.

Promoting Inclusion

UIC’s seven Centers for Cultural Understanding and Social Change host a variety of events and activities to support and bring students together throughout the semester. You can visit a Center’s website directly by following the links below.
African-American Cultural Center
Arab American Cultural Center
Asian American Resource and Cultural Center
Disability Cultural Center
Gender and Sexuality Center
Latino Cultural Center
Women’s Leadership and Resource Center

The UIC Counseling Center offers mental health services including individual and group therapy at no charge to enrolled students.

The UIC Rigo Padilla-Pérez Undocumented Student Resource Center seeks to create space for rest and resources for undocumented and mixed status students across campus.

The UIC Gender and Sexuality Center serves students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members throughout Chicago of all gender identities, gender expressions, and sexual orientations.

Confronting Exclusion and Reporting Bias

STM PROCESS FOR VOICING CONCERNS

How do I voice a concern?

The UIC School of Theatre and Music condemns bias in all its forms: racism, sexism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, ageism, and other discriminatory actions.* If you have an experience within the department that does not reflect our goals of respect and inclusion, if you need support around a conflict you are having with someone in the department, or if you’d like help gaining clarity around a challenging situation, please reference the steps below. We recognize that different situations call for different types of support.

FOR STUDENTS
When you contact an STM faculty or staff member to voice a concern, they will:

  1. Listen
  2. Tell you what they heard to ensure that they have it right
  3. Ask you if you are interested in developing a plan of action, which might include involving other faculty or staff members, or other university support systems, as appropriate
  4. Do what they said they were going to do
  5. Let you know that they’ve done what they said they were going to do

If you have requested a response, you can expect one within 3 working days. You may remain anonymous in this process if you prefer, with the exception of issues for which faculty (including the Heads and Director) and staff are mandatory reporters.

If you are meeting with a member of the faculty or staff to voice a concern, you are encouraged to bring someone with you for support, such as another student or your faculty advisor. If you do not have someone you feel you can ask to attend in support, you may request that the school provide a faculty or staff member to be a third person in the meeting. Please make this request when you schedule the meeting.

How do I voice a concern about a course I am enrolled in?
When you contact any of the individuals listed below, to ensure that they are able to prioritize your concern, please include “Bias Concern” in the email subject heading.

Within STM:

  1. If you feel comfortable, contact your professor.
  2. If you prefer not to contact your professor, or you spoke to them but you desire further action, contact either your faculty advisor or the Head of Theatre or Music:

Theatre: Yasen Peyankov (yasenp@uic.edu)
Music: Brent Talbot (btalbot@uic.edu)

  1. If you are not comfortable with any of the above options, or you have used them but you desire further action, contact the School of Theatre and Music’s Director, Christine Dunford (cdunfo1@uic.edu)

Outside of STM:

  1. If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the department, please use the Bias Reporting Tool. The Bias Reporting Tool is a safe, easy to use, and confidential tool that members of the UIC community can use to report incidences of bias. An overview of the Bias Reporting tool can be found at the end of this document.

How do I voice a concern about something that happened during a rehearsal or performance?

For Theatre productions:

  1. If you are comfortable, speak to the director (if they are affiliated with UIC) or the production manager.

For Music productions:

  1. If you are comfortable, speak to the ensemble leader (if they are affiliated with UIC).

For Theatre and Music productions:

  1. If you prefer not to speak with the director, ensemble leader, or production manager, or you have spoken with them but desire further action, contact your department head or the STM Director:

Theatre: Yasen Peyankov (yasenp@uic.edu)
Music: Brent Talbot (btalbot@uic.edu)
STM Director: Christine Dunford (cdunfo1@uic.edu)

  1. If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the department, please use the Bias Reporting Tool. The Bias Reporting Tool is a safe, easy to use, and confidential tool that members of the UIC community can use to report incidences of bias. An overview of the Bias Reporting tool can be found at the end of this document.

How do I voice a concern about something that happened in a different circumstance?
You can always speak with any faculty or staff member about a concern, but here are some options if you are not sure who to talk to:

  • Yasen Peyankov, Head of Theatre: (yasenp@uic.edu)
  • Brent Talbot (btalbot@uic.edu)
  • Christine Dunford, Director of STM (cdunfo1@uic.edu)
  • Use the Bias Reporting Tool.

If you wish to voice a concern that is about your Department Head or the Director of the school, you may also contact Tom Moss (tommoss@uic.edu), Associate Dean for Student Affairs.

FOR FACULTY & STAFF

How do I raise a concern of my own? How do I get support addressing a concern, either in the moment or long-term?

You may experience a concern that affects you personally. You may also find that you do not know the best way to address a concern. Or, a concern may help you recognize a need that you have for additional training, conversation, or support. In these cases:

  1. If you prefer not to address the issue with the person directly, and you are comfortable, speak with the Head or the Director.
  2. If you wish to voice a concern that is about your Department Head or the Director of the school, you may also contact the Dean of the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts, Rebecca Rugg (rugg@uic.edu).
  3. If you prefer to speak with someone outside of the department, please use the following UIC resources:

FOR EVERYONE

Description of the Bias Reporting Tool:

If you have experienced or witnessed an incident of bias and you want to report it outside of STM, we recommend the UIC Bias Reporting Tool, which provides a space for students, faculty and staff to report incidents of bias and have their concerns heard.

The bias response tool is:

  • Easy to use
  • Confidential
  • Focused on the concerns and hopes of the reporter
  • Guaranteed to protect reporters against retaliation

How does the Bias Reporting process work?

The Bias Response Team uses a multi-step process to respond to bias incidents:

  1. Report and Review: The report is reviewed by the members of the Bias Response Team. You may remain anonymous in this process.
  2. Contact: If you wish to provide contact information, the Bias Response Team will get in touch with you to offer support and resources and discuss options for follow up. You may remain anonymous if you prefer.
  3. Evaluate and Respond: The Bias Response Team evaluates the incident and considers possible responses. If you have provided contact information, you can be notified of the response. If you oppose the response plan, the Team will review additional options if they are available.

Who is the Bias Response Team?

• The Bias Response Team is composed of 4 members from the Offices of Diversity and Access & Equity. It is chaired by Jessica Joslin, the Director of UIC Dialogue Initiative and Diversity Education.

For a more detailed summary of this process and potential responses to reports, please click here.

For any questions related to the Bias Reporting Tool, please email Jessica Joslin, the Director of UIC Dialogue Initiative and Diversity Education.

As part of the University of Illinois System, the UIC School of Theatre & Music will not engage in discrimination or harassment against any person because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, order of protection status, genetic information, disability, pregnancy, sexual orientation including gender identity, unfavorable discharge from the military or status as a protected veteran.