Using audience interaction and an empty chair, a CU Boulder-based theater group helped UCCS faculty and staff better understand the challenges of building inclusive campus communities during a Thursday morning campus forum.
Rebecca Brown Adelman and Trent Norman, co directors, Interactive Theater Project, CU Boulder, and two ensemble members created potentially uncomfortable scenarios for the approximately 50 faculty, staff and students who attended the forum. As the scenario was set, audience members were encouraged to yell “stop” and to take a place in the now-improvised skit to demonstrate the actions they would take to improve the campus climate.
“I don’t think you should be doing that, you’re making fun of someone,” Mary Lile, accountant, Resource Management, told an actor portraying students creating a Facebook posting calling a Muslim student a terrorist.
The scenes encouraged those in attendance to think about their own reactions to situations where colleagues or even strangers create an environment that is not inclusive. Attendees were encouraged to applaud those who came forward, to think about their own reactions, and to discuss strategies where points can be made without provocation.
“We need a community to create change,” Adelman said before explaining the importance of speaking out about discrimination.
The Interactive Theater Project came to UCCS at the invitation of Kee Warner, associate vice chancellor, Diversity and Inclusiveness, and was an inaugural effort of the Inclusive Campus Action Team, a group of faculty, staff and students committed to improving the inclusive culture of the campus.
“We wanted to bring issues to life and show people how they can help when they see something that they know may not be quite right,” Warner said.
— Photo by Tom Hutton
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