OB and Stage Troupe Joint Statement
To the memberships of BU On Broadway and Stage Troupe, our alumni, and the wider community
We hope that you are all doing well in anticipation of the fall semester. As we look forward to the start of the year, we want to keep you apprised of our conversations, initiatives, and thoughts as the leaders of On Broadway and Stage Troupe.
As two Executive Boards, we take full responsibility on behalf of our organizations and membership of the negative culture that has existed for a long time within our communities. We are dedicated to making foundational, structural change within our groups both internally and collectively. Below we have outlined the specifics of our current plan to work together and positively impact our larger community. In addition, we refuse to perpetuate any rivalry between our groups which has caused harm within our organizations and shifted the focus of the conversation away from supporting survivors and creating safer, healthier environments. Our love of theater, art, and our community brings us together, and we hope to create a foundation for future members of OB and Stage Troupe to collaborate and communicate, ensuring that we can create a safe and inclusive theater community between our groups.
We will be creating an intergroup Record of Misconduct to be certain that any instances of sexual misconduct, dangerous behavior, or harassment do not go uncommunicated between groups. If someone is reported for this behavior, they will be added to our Record and their participation will not be allowed in our wider theater community.
Leaders within both OB and Stage Troupe will be required to complete SARP training at the beginning of the year or semester. Both Executive Boards and Stage Troupe Community Mentors will be trained at the start of each year. Creative teams from both groups will be trained at the start of each semester.
Open conversations will be held between our leaders and memberships in small groups about safe and legal alcohol consumption.
In an effort to establish a safe and comfortable environment in the rehearsal room and beyond, both of our groups will focus on becoming better equipped in handling Onstage Intimacy. Because our leaders have not been especially trained in this extremely important aspect of theater, we have decided to partner with an outside organization to educate ourselves and our memberships in order to best equip every person in a rehearsal room with tools and vocabulary to create a safe space.
We will work together to design, develop, and proliferate a consistent guide for the expectations in social and informal spaces within OB and Stage Troupe. This will include specific language which details the consequences for violating this guide, information about behavioral expectations surrounding alcohol, and specific requirements for hosts of BU Theater-affiliated social events.
Creative teams will be held accountable for their intentions about handling sensitive content within the rehearsal room; the Executive Board will consistently follow up with creative teams about how they are handling sensitive content in their shows, and a member of the Executive Board will be present in the rehearsal room when these topics are addressed.
Both groups will be creating new support systems for their membership. Stage Troupe will have Community Mentors who will help to better integrate incoming freshman students. On Broadway will be creating a trial committee as a resource for individuals uncomfortable with coming to the Executive Board directly with sensitive matters. If the general membership is comfortable with the committee and wish for it to stay in place it will be permanently put into place. These support systems will serve as a way for OB and Troupe to create new levels of leadership within our organizations, so that members have many options of responsible and capable leaders to seek guidance from. These leaders will open up new channels of communication and allow for efficient reporting of misconduct within the groups.
As Executive Boards, we are committed to learning more about our responsibilities as leaders, and also when to refer members to more qualified University administrators. For any incidents of sexual misconduct, members of BU Theater and the wider BU community can go to SARP and/or report the matter to the Title IX office where an investigation will occur. The Title IX office will do whatever they can to make sure the survivors feel comfortable; if you are uncomfortable with reporting to Title IX you may choose to only go to SARP. For matters regarding drug and alcohol abuse, members will be encouraged to seek formal help through Behavioral Medicine at BU, which is accessible through Patient Connect.
Moreover, we have created several long-term goals in order to ensure the relations between the two groups remain friendly, as well as making sure to sustain the supportive and safe environment we are hoping to create.
We plan to have monthly meetings with members from each Executive Board to discuss and touch base about activity within our organizations.
We will do our best to make ourselves accessible to the general membership, whether that be through Community Mentors, committees or office hours.
We will also make sure to let future Executive Board members know what has happened in the past, to the best of our knowledge, so we can continue to take accountability for the histories of our groups and grow to be better than what was.
We understand that it will take time before the changes we have begun to put into place will take full effect. This will not be finished during one academic year; the nature of fostering a new, safer environment is inherently never-ending. However, we hope that with these positive influences that future board members and membership will continue to incite the change that they want to see in the clubs.
We intend to create positive environments in which any BU student can explore their love of theatre. We are committed to working towards better support for survivors and strive to foster a safe environment for our current and future members. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach out to either board at stage@bu.edu and at onbrdway@bu.edu.
Thank you for trusting us to make our groups better.
Sincerely,
The 2020/2021 Executive Boards of On Broadway and Stage Troupe
Jen, Isa, Dom, Robert, Julia, Natalie, Jacob, Sunny, Josh, Kendall, Connor, and Zach