SETC Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Access Initiative Ethos Statement

SETC is resolutely committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in the life and culture of our organization. We are actively interrogating our policies and practices to deliberately take action and institutionalize anti-racist and anti-oppressive policies and practice. SETC will work to center marginalized voices, bodies, and stories. We will listen and learn about racism, discrimination, and adversity.

SETC Land Acknowledgment

Before the Southeastern Theatre Conference connected the nation through theatre, the Saponi, Occaneechi, and Catawba Peoples connected their children, elders, and ancestors through stories, hopes, and dreams, and have stewarded this land for over 13,000 years. It is with gratitude that we honor the land and the First Nation people who call Greensboro home, and we also acknowledge that we benefit from their tragic loss of land through colonialism, genocide, and systematic attack. As recently as 1951, the Catawba Indian Nation’s government was “terminated” by the US federal government, and was not reinstated until 1993. The elders say that they have lived here forever, that they looked up at the sky and the Creators gave them their language and culture. We encourage SETC constituents to research and acknowledge the indigeneity of the land where your institution sits. Today, the State of North Carolina recognizes eight tribes as ancestors: Eastern Band of Cherokee, Coharie, Lumbee, Haliwa-Saponi, Sappony, Meherrin, Occaneechi Band of Saponi Nation, and Waccamaw-Siouan tribes. This Land Acknowledgement challenges us to learn from their plight, and to draw from their traditions of language, spirituality, and storytelling to better understand community, respect, and stewardship of this great land.