ECU School of Theatre and Dance expected to announce plan after alleged misconduct

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Faculty at ECU’s School of Theatre and Dance says they will announce a plan of action Friday after an Instagram account shed light on alleged misconduct within the school.

The account, created in February and titled ‘dear sotd’ describes what students say they’ve experienced within the program.

One anonymous post reads: “My freshman year I didn’t get into the musical theatre department because the director told me I was too fat to be cast in theatre. His words exactly.”

The account caught the attention of faculty members, a meeting was held on Monday, where students were able to share their concerns with some of the department members.

Theater students were then sent an email on Wednesday, stating all classes in the School of Theatre and Dance were canceled on that day. It was followed by a separate email from the theatre department’s faculty leaders explaining why.

It reads, in part:

WITN spoke with two freshmen who are also in the theatre program. They listed ways the situation could be resolved.

”Having more of these conversations instead of pushing them under the rug,” Catherine Snow said.

“I would really want for the bond between faculty and students [to] deepen because we all want to be here,” Fiona Mitchell said. “But sometimes when things like this happen it makes it very difficult. So, I guess just more inclusivity, diversity, and acceptance and just opening up to listening to everyone would be great.”

WITN reached out to School of Theatre and Dance leaders for comment and was referred to ECU News Services.

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