Support for Alicia-Lynn Nascimento Castro
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Back in December 2020, right around the holidays, a change.org petition circulated telling the story of a faculty member in the Dance Department at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ who had been terminated.
If you can donate a dollar or two -or ten- or fifty, we would appreciate your support! This Fund will provide vital resources for Alicia-Lynn Nascimento Castro's Legal Defense and Mental Health fund. She and her family are going through a challenging time. In addition to the loss of her teaching contracts, COVID-19 recently reached their household. She will use the funds to continue to fight for her lost wages.
Brief version of the story: At the tail-end of 2020, the Grand Canyon University administration retaliated against 2 faculty members by firing them over a series of events that included a racial reconciliation meeting and 2 choreographic works dealing with matters of social justice.
The students in Mrs. Nascimento Castro’s cast led a protest onstage during the livestream on GCU’s YouTube channel on December 21, 2020, after learning what the dean had demanded as edits in the final dress rehearsal. Students walked onstage with posters stating “every human should have the freedom to…” with various endings including, “…go for a jog,” “…survive a traffic violation,” “…sleep peacefully,” and other scenarios in which African-Americans have been killed by U.S. police officers.
GCU claims to value critical thinking and global awareness as critical competencies, and yet Nascimento Castro’s piece was deemed inappropriate for a GCU audience. It is ironic that a play produced in the theatre department only two years ago, depicted the Holocaust, taking on a full spectrum of human experiences, including violent acts. It seems the only difference was whose story was being told.
For more detail, please see the links below for articles from The Arizona Republic.
There will be more follow-up about this situation for those willing to help in other ways. This situation continues to develop.
My sincere gratitude,
Susannah Keita , former Director of Dance at GCU
Arizona Republic, 12/25/20: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-education/2020/12/25/gcu-former-dance-instructor-spar-over-firing-after-meeting-race/4026356001/)
Arizona Republic, 1/13/21: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2021/01/13/its-really-hard-gcu-dance-students-reckon-firings-shuffling-department/6595518002/
Back in December 2020, right around the holidays, a change.org petition circulated telling the story of a faculty member in the Dance Department at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, AZ who had been terminated.
If you can donate a dollar or two -or ten- or fifty, we would appreciate your support! This Fund will provide vital resources for Alicia-Lynn Nascimento Castro's Legal Defense and Mental Health fund. She and her family are going through a challenging time. In addition to the loss of her teaching contracts, COVID-19 recently reached their household. She will use the funds to continue to fight for her lost wages.
Brief version of the story: At the tail-end of 2020, the Grand Canyon University administration retaliated against 2 faculty members by firing them over a series of events that included a racial reconciliation meeting and 2 choreographic works dealing with matters of social justice.
The students in Mrs. Nascimento Castro’s cast led a protest onstage during the livestream on GCU’s YouTube channel on December 21, 2020, after learning what the dean had demanded as edits in the final dress rehearsal. Students walked onstage with posters stating “every human should have the freedom to…” with various endings including, “…go for a jog,” “…survive a traffic violation,” “…sleep peacefully,” and other scenarios in which African-Americans have been killed by U.S. police officers.
GCU claims to value critical thinking and global awareness as critical competencies, and yet Nascimento Castro’s piece was deemed inappropriate for a GCU audience. It is ironic that a play produced in the theatre department only two years ago, depicted the Holocaust, taking on a full spectrum of human experiences, including violent acts. It seems the only difference was whose story was being told.
For more detail, please see the links below for articles from The Arizona Republic.
There will be more follow-up about this situation for those willing to help in other ways. This situation continues to develop.
My sincere gratitude,
Susannah Keita , former Director of Dance at GCU
Arizona Republic, 12/25/20: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix-education/2020/12/25/gcu-former-dance-instructor-spar-over-firing-after-meeting-race/4026356001/)
Arizona Republic, 1/13/21: https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2021/01/13/its-really-hard-gcu-dance-students-reckon-firings-shuffling-department/6595518002/
Organizer
Sukie Keita
Organizer
Phoenix, AZ