Students Stage a Show of Protest : Theater: Demonstration criticizes UCLA department’s lack of commitment to black productions. A vice chancellor at the university agrees that the group has a valid point.

Performing spirituals, depictions of slavery and rap tunes, a UCLA African-American student theater group staged a dramatic demonstration Wednesday over what they said was the theater department’s lack of commitment to present black productions.

A crowd of more than 100 students, mostly Anglo, cheered on the group, which calls itself “Diaspora,” as the protesters moved, danced and sang around the university’s sculpture garden during the two-hour demonstration.

Organizers of the protest complained that the university’s theater department has repeatedly brought the curtain down on their attempts to present works by artists other than Anglo or European playwrights. While the department has never been accused of trying to thwart black productions, the protesters said the department was guilty of “racism and cultural insensitivity.”

Andrea Rich, university vice chancellor and academic administrator, said she felt the group had a point.

“The department has lots of priorities,” she said. “ . . . And this has not been in the forefront of their vision. But this kind of protest helps bring it to the forefront.”

Rich said the department was already forming a committee of faculty members and students to look at expanding the curriculum to include more works by African-American artists.

During the protest, participants raised their fists and shouted, “This is a demonstration. This is a demonstration.” Then, quoting the lyrics from a popular rap song, they added, “Stop what you’re doing, ‘cause we’re about to ruin the image and the style that you’re used to.”

Saying that they had “no sets, no props, no arena” to get their message across, the core group of 17 protesters moved around grassy areas of the gardens, and eventually to a courtyard around the theater department offices. The actors and actresses declared several times that the performance was the only way to present “our plot, our plight, that our perspective should be kept out of mind, out of sight.”

The students, clad in black, acted out the history of blacks in America through songs, monologues and scenes from plays dealing with Africa and slavery. At times, white students dressed in white joined the protest, acting out the roles of plantation owners or other oppressors.

Some observers remarked that watching the performance was almost like witnessing an angry protest by black militants from the 1960s. But organizers said the demonstration was meant to be more of a celebration than an attack on the university.

“This is a celebration of growth and perseverance,” said Doug Griffin, a senior who directed the makeshift production. “This is a call for the department to wake up and see what we have to offer. They need to see what needs to be done.”

“We’re really frustrated, because there’s a lack of cultural diversity on every level,” said Guy Leemhuis, 22, a senior in the department. He added that the students had been pushing the department for more than a year to hire more minority faculty members and allocate more money for minority-oriented productions.

Leemhuis said he knew of the department’s efforts to address his group’s concerns. “But what happened here today is to let them know that we’re not letting up,” he said.