UCB Training Center Diversity Program

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Welcome! This page outlines the UCB Training Center Diversity Program, some recent changes, and upcoming events that might be of interest. It was updated January 7, 2009.

Our program coordinator is Keisha Zollar. She took over from Caitlin Steitzer, our founding coordinator.

Here are some other bits of news and information:

January Meet-Up

Our next meet up is Sunday, January 24. We'll talk about the comedy scene, improv and sketch classes, and diversity issues related to them. Stop by if you can, it will be pretty informal.

Sunday January 24
4:00-6:00 PM
UCB Theatre
307 W. 26th Street
(at Eighth Ave, beneath the Gristedes)

Newsletter

Keisha is going to organize a newsletter that will feature news about the program, interviews with performers and students, calendars of upcoming shows and events. It will be a great way to find out about different aspects of the program.

December Meet-up

We met up at the Training Center at 7 pm on Friday, December 11 and had a great discussion followed by some fun out on the town. Check this page for details about the next event.

Scholarships

One element of the program involves a limited number of scholarships for prospective students who hadn't previously been involved with the UCB Training Center and also current students.

The application window for January 2010 has closed. Everyone who applied should have received a follow-up email, and we will be contacting everyone with further information about interviews in the next few weeks. If you applied and haven't received the initial confirmation, pleae email erik at ucbcomedy dot com. If you did receive that email, sit tight! It might take a while for us to get back to you about interview scheduling because we have a lot of applicants.

The next application period will be sometime in the summer. We'll post details here when they become available.

Outreach

We're hoping to increase our outreach efforts in the next year. If you know of anyone who would be a good addition to the UCB community, please let them know about the diversity scholarship program. Alex Kane organized an improv class for local high school students over the summer, and we're hoping to branch out into some sketch and improv offerings for students, at-risk youth, and other local community members who wouldn't otherwise know about the UCB.

Practice Group

I'm hoping to arrange a regular practice group for improvisers involved in the diversity program (that means you!) to practice in a different setting than the classroom.

Mentor Program

Newer students who are interested can be matched up with mentors who have been around the community longer to help answer questions and guide them through their classes and performances.

Diversity

For people who are curious about our goals, we're currently looking to increase our diversity of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identification, age, and differently-abled performers. We've started collecting information about our current student population through surveys so we'll be able to keep track of any improvements we make, and also keep an eye on attrition rates.

If you have any questions, please Hope to see you around the theatre or Training Center. Introduce yourself if we haven't met!

Erik Tanouye
Director of Student Affairs