Fordham theater department to Fordham theater professor: “did you see the shows last season?”
Lincoln Center: the entire theater department is collectively scratching their heads at a racially charged email sent by one of their professors. The professor chastised a student of color who was asking for an extension on a project. She claimed the student was falling into a stereotypical narrative as a result of his tardiness.
When asked for a comment, Fordham Theatre program director Ricky McGill looked perplexed. “What she said was uncalled for and disgusting, there’s no question about it. What’s just…counfouding to me is…did she see any of the plays we put up last year? I mean they were ALL about race. Like…what is she doing?”
Mr.McGill has a point, Fordham Theatre’s 2015-2016 season primarily dealt with race and “Reveal[ed] alternative strategies to transcend the abuse of power”. With shows about African-American police officers, an African-American girl trying to understand her heritage, and a play literally titled “White People”, many are curious if the offending professor bothered to watch any of these plays.
Derrick Cusano (LC ‘17) a regular usher at the LC mainstage shows, was able to shed some light on the situation. “Oh yeah, I’d seen her at a few of the shows last season, dozing off every once in a while, one time I even saw her leave the theater so she could get a box of Bunch-a-Crunch to put in her popcorn. I guess It kind of makes sense that she would have sent out that email…I mean it doesn’t, but at least she didn’t realize that she was in direct contradiction with what her department has been focusing on.”
Rachel Lindholm, Head administrator noted that “It’s really horrible that she said this, truly…It’s also kind of awful that she didn’t bother to see any of the shows from last season? Just to clarify my issues with her are in this order 1.Racism 2.Ignorance of the department 3. All those ellipses she used in the email? That’s how my great-uncle types up emails, come on”
We at RTT admit that we are upset that this happened, but to be honest, the professor is falling into the classic stereotype of a racist person, so who can we really blame?
Her. We can blame her.