OCU Creatives for Artistic and Realistic Equalities hosted a two-night town hall discussing race and ethnic diversity within the university and the entertainment industry as a whole.
OCU CARE is a student organization which advocates for marginalized groups in the performing arts on campus. According to OCU CARE’s Instagram page, the first night, “A Panel with Professionals,” featured a panel of six professional artists of color – including four OCU alumni – and the second night, “Examining Inwards,” featured a panel of current OCU students of color sharing their experiences. The event took place at 6 p.m. Oct. 24-25 over Zoom.
Nasir Panjwani, OCU CARE president, said hosting town halls to educate the community was one of the early pillars for OCU CARE. He said the race and ethnic diversity panel was the second of a series of town halls. This panel will be followed by town halls for disability, neurodivergence and accessibility, LGBTQ+ inclusivity and body empowerment.
“It started with the idea of having people outside ourselves talk about their experiences because we have already been having a lot of conversations with the administration, which is incredible, but sometimes it feels like you hit a wall when you’re talking to people who don’t share your experience,” Panjwani said.
Panjwani said bringing in guests with unique experiences balances out the power dynamic between students and faculty and allows for further growth within the community.
Ánh-Mai Kearney, race and ethnic diversity branch leader, said the town hall was vital for both educating the community and helping current students of color feel heard. She said the lack of professors of color on campus and a lack of representation on stage is disheartening to students of color.
“In our ecosystem, it can get lonely for people of color,” Kearney said. “When we were coming up with our town hall, we kind of went back to the roots of what our goal is: to educate, inform and shed light on the situations of people of color in our industry and the realities of students of color in school now.”
Kearney said the weekend was impactful and affirming to her as a student of color. One of the guest panelists, Manna Nichols, is an OCU alumna and Broadway actress who comes from Asian, white and Native American heritage. Kearney said Nichols sharing her experiences as a biracial performer made her feel understood in a profound way.
“I had never actually heard from the mouth of someone else who has the same makeup as me talk about their experience in the industry.” Kearney said. “I felt so known and understood. I got kind of emotional just talking to her and hearing her experience because these were the same thoughts that I thought about. These are the same things I wondered about. These are the same things I struggled with as an Asian American woman in the industry.”
Vangeli Tsompanidis, music theater sophomore, is a member of the race and ethnic diversity branch. He said meeting Nichols was an important steppingstone for him as a biracial performer.
“I’m half Greek/half Puerto Rican, and I’ve been very insecure about my heritage. I’ve always felt like I’m not enough of one or the other. Attending these two seminars made me feel so confident about my experience as a BIPOC person because a lot of these experiences are things that I’ve held inside of me,” Tsompanidis said.
Tsompanidis said both nights consisted of a question and answer portion and a breakout room portion in which students would split off into small groups and discuss specific issues with different panelists.
“It was really interesting. I had internalized so much of my experiences, and when I was actually asked, and given a chance to think about it, I felt such a connection to all of the people who experience things similar to myself,” Tsompanidis said.
Tsompanidis said when OCU CARE produced their “Color Cabaret,” he didn’t participate because he was worried he would misrepresent his own community. He said the race and ethnic diversity town hall gave him the confidence to embrace his heritage within the context of his life as a performer.
“I got to speak to Manna Nichols and connect to her on social media. Making that connection with someone who has a similar kind of experience was a huge deal for me,” Tsompanidis said.
OCU CARE will announce future town halls and events on their Instagram.
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