The Rome School of Music, Drama, and Art is dedicated to achieving a welcoming community that embraces a wide variety of backgrounds. As artists, educators, and scholars, we believe that the fine and performing arts can play a pivotal role in effecting change, and we strive to vigorously nurture a community of faculty, students, staff, and leadership that are empowered to make change. To do that, we must change ourselves, our practices, and our curricula. We understand deeply that this must be achieved with far more than words and promises. It will require action from all of us. To that end, The Rome School Anti-Racism and Unity Committee has been established to investigate past, current, and ongoing practices to promote tolerance and equal opportunity in all aspects of School operations.
Fr. Dennis H. Holtschneider, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, stated in his newsletter, “racism is America’s original sin. It continues to complicate all our attempts to create a truly human civil society. Those of us who accept the audacious task of leading faith-based education still have much work to do.” We are inspired by his words and are ready and willing to do that work.
We pledge to constantly renew our commitment to listen to and engage with the voices of all people in the arts, to examine our own partiality, and to endeavor to create an environment that is fair, unbiased, and nondiscriminatory towards all members of our community.
Committee Charge
The Rome School Anti-Racism and Unity Committee serves as an advisory committee to the Dean and is charged with the investigation of the Rome School’s ongoing practices to promote a welcoming community in all aspects of its operations and the examination of curricula to ensure unity and accessibility. The committee, meeting at least quarterly and as needed, is composed of faculty, alumni/ae, current students, and staff who will make recommendations to the Dean. The committee will file an annual review that will be a public document for the community. The committee will be inspired by the stated Aim of the University which calls for “fostering a climate within which all members of the University community have sufficient opportunities to influence deliberation and choice.”
Committee Goals
The goals of the committee are:Short-Term (this year and next):
- Create mechanisms for students to be able to report incidents without fear of retribution.
- Hold Town Hall for students to know how to report racism.
- Encourage students to explore professional opportunities while at CUA, both within and outside of the university.
- Create a system of accountability. Work with University Advancement to create scholarships.
- Work towards hiring an Equal Opportunity Officer that works with the School on the staff level. This position would come with graduate student assistants that could serve as a liaison between undergraduate studies and professional opportunities for students from all backgrounds and affiliations.
- Invite more artists to speak, lead master classes and workshops, and work on projects/productions.
- Encourage students to explore professional opportunities while at CUA.
- Provide career guidance from members of the community
- Continue to assess progress.
- Seek out avenues for ongoing recognized assessment and training, akin to accrediting organizations like Middle States, NASAD, NASM, NAST.