March 31st 2006, 3 students at Seattle's Cornish College of the Arts took to the stage to perform a play - a graduation requirement for the Theater students. The assignment was to re-enact a moment in history. Their piece was entitled "The Civil Rights Movement - In Its Entirety". What could have been an entertaining, thought provoking and possibly even something to spark discussion & dialogue regarding the Civil Rights movement, would actually be so far from that wishful thinking, that friendships would be broken, lines would be crossed and the reminders that racism can even infiltrate the liberal artist community of students and staff at Cornish.

Tinu Oyelowo, a senior at Cornish Majoring in Theater with an emphasis on Playwriting, sat in the front row to watch her peers who were also her friends, perform this play that mocked, ridiculed and disrespected Historical black figures that included Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and Ms. Rosa Parks. She did not expect nor was she prepared for what she saw in that theater and what would subsequently happen as a result of this performance. "To watch my friends/peers degrade my culture hurt so bad", Tinu told me. In the audience sat between 50 and 60 people. All watched as the trio depicted disturbing "enactments" laced with insensitivity and stereotypical references.

According to Tinu, a black male teacher who was situated in the back of the audience actually walked out of the performance. She left right after the piece, shaken, confused and obviously disturbed. Tinu shared with me that having come from the South (born in Texas and living in Florida) before coming to Seattle to attend Cornish, experiencing racism was seen and felt more often and more openly. Never did she think that in Seattle, typically known for its multi-cultural population and liberal thinking, would she experience something of this magnitude within the walls of school that cultivates the Arts. "I thought the artist community is open", she stated. "And those students considered themselves liberal….to who!?".

An outraged Tinu and the one other black student that attended the performance expressed their disapproval and betrayal to the Administrators. They requested speakers knowledgeable on issues of race & social awareness be brought in to educate students, faculty and the Administration on the subject. They demanded a public apology from not only the students that performed the play but also one from the teacher that pre-approved the performance. Their requests were ignored.

Two weeks later, in what seemed like a damage control maneuver on the part of Cornish Administrators, Ms. Oyelowo, along with 3 other black female students in the Theater program were called into a meeting with the 3 students that performed the offensive play. Lois Harris, Cornish's Provost (according to dictionary.com the definition of provost is "a high-ranking university administrator"), was also in attendance. "The meeting did not resolve a thing. There was no discipline for any of the performers.", Tinu said with disappointment.

The motivation behind the bold act of the students to think it appropriate to perform such a piece was "to see how far they could push the envelope. They said it was just comic relief but it was not funny to anyone", she continued. Only one of the performers wrote a public apology to everyone in the Theater program that consists of 170+ students. The other students just wanted to go on as if nothing happened.

Cornish is one of three privately funded performing & visual arts colleges in the country. The arts, be it music, dance, stage, etc. is a medium that can hold an audience captive, shape opinions and spark debate. Tinu is right on when she said to me, "with power comes responsibility". According to the mission statement for the school, "The mission of Cornish College of the Arts is to provide students aspiring to become practicing artists with an educational program of the highest possible quality, in an environment that nurtures creativity and intellectual curiosity, while preparing them to contribute to society as artists, citizens, and innovators.". Tinu states that "there are no cultural sensitivity courses that are required" at the school. Incidentally, in her 4 years at Cornish, she was able to persuade the school to get several multi-cultural classes added to the curriculum. It is still undetermined whether Cornish will continue to offer these classes in the future.

Tinu Oyelowo, graduated from Cornish Sunday May 15th. To the support & appreciation from many of her graduating classmates, Tinu did not shake the hand of Lois Harris at the ceremony. Her plan now that she has graduated is to do an internship in Milwaukee.