Poster removal sparks dialogue between Roski students, admin

Late last Tuesday night, members of the Roski School of Art and Design Undergraduate Student Collective, a student organization not officially recognized by the University, put up two large posters on bulletin boards across from the Lindhurst Gallery. By 9:00 a.m. Wednesday morning, these posters were removed.

In response, the students printed and posted smaller copies of a faculty solidarity document, which were were also promptly removed by the University.

One poster was a statement in support of faculty unionization at Roski, and the other was a list of the students’ proposals for increased studio space and art equipment.

Upset by the speedy removal of their messages, the student group took to their collective Tumblr page to publicize what happened to their posters, along with digital copies of the posters and the following statement:

“We believe the USC Roski School of Art and Design is taking efforts to silence and censor student voices, particularly those of dissent. During our Open Forum at the end of last semester, …  we were told we would have access to post on these bulletin boards, but that is clearly not the case.”

Though the students believed they had been censored, Penelope Jones, assistant dean for student services at Roski, said in an email to the Daily Trojan that the posters were removed because they violated SCampus guidelines.

“They covered up and/or took down other messages that had already been posted on the board,” Jones said.

Certain boards in and about Watt Hall are designated specifically for gallery and job postings, grad school recruitment and other announcements, according to Jones. The group also posted flyers on windows, doors and walls, which were removed by facilities for the same reason.

One representative of the undergraduate collective group, junior art comparative literature major Kate Riccitiello, recognizes that their large posters were covering up other messages on the board, but that they were desperate to be heard. Following a forum they held with the school in December in which they outlined, among others, their goals for more studio space and art show opportunities, she felt they needed to take action.

“I still think it was wrong for them to be removed, but they did cover other people’s stuff,” Riccitiello said. “We were fed up with not having received any response to what we were saying, so we were trying to play all our cards at once and force their hand.”

As for the smaller posters, Riccitiello doesn’t believe that they were an obstruction because they were only 8.5×11 pieces of paper.

Whether or not the papers were truly an obstruction, the speed at which they were removed is enough to cause concern for sophomore fine arts major Jeremy Reynoso, who is also a representative of the Roski Undergraduate Collective.

“I think it’s important to note that these were removed so quickly, and there are posters on those bulletin boards up for events that happened two months ago that weren’t urgently removed,” Reynoso said.

He said that the school urgently removed the signs because they were concerned about prospective students visiting.

“Because it’s recruitment season, a bunch of people are walking through going on tours, and they don’t want their prospective students to see anything wrong with the school,” Reynoso said.

Whatever the reason, the quick removal of these posters created a tension that exposes the ongoing conflict in Roski that began last spring when the Masters of Fine Arts students left in protest of administrative changes, particularly the addition of Dean Erica Muhl.

Indeed, since Muhl’s employment as Dean, Roski professors and MFA students have dropped in numbers, leaving behind consolidated classes, nearly empty MFA studios and just one MFA student. Following these systematic changes and subsequent dissent, attempts have been made to open up SCampus-approved communication between students and faculty with open forums and meetings. Associate Professor and Vice-Dean of Faculty at Roski Sherin Guirguis said in an email to the Daily Trojan that she is glad to see the students speaking out and welcomes the suggestions.

“I’m thrilled to see our students actively engaged in the process of envisioning the future of the school,” Guirguis. “A number of Roski students have made very thoughtful suggestions, and we have already taken steps to implement a number of these … We continue to welcome student suggestions and aim to keep the lines of communication between students, faculty and administration open.”

In response to student requests, Roski has bought new photography equipment, financed an international fine art study tour in May and a senior exhibition, which is planned for Spring of 2017.

The most recent effort to open communication lines and avoid conflict with SCampus guidelines is the formal dedication of a Roski student-only bulletin board. Following the poster removal, the students were given rights to post on a particular bulletin board after they met with Jones, Guirguis and Lecturer of Design Jeff Cain on Friday.

“In December, and again last week, we offered assistance to the student group in posting their views in compliance with SCampus, and we have now set aside a large bulletin board for the exclusive use of Roski students,” Jones said in an email to Daily Trojan.

According to Riccitiello, however, who called Friday’s meeting “very disturbing,” their new public bulletin board is not public enough.

“They gave us [a bulletin board], but it’s really hard to find,” Riccitiello said. “You would really only pass it if you’re going to the sculpture room …They told us to just tell people to go look at them if we want them to see it.”

Riccitiello also said that she was unsurprised by the relatively small win because it was typical of her previous interactions with the faculty and administration.

“This happens every time we meet with administration, where we have questions and things we want addressed, and they kind of talk around them or act like they’re doing what we want them to do, but they’re really not,” Riccitiello said.

This frustrates Reynoso, who recognizes the time-consuming complications involved with making widespread changes, but also feels like they really aren’t asking for much, especially with the acquisition of studio space.

“I feel like they make it seem like we’re asking for too much,” Reynoso said. “But a lot of the issues have solutions.”

Riccitiello echoed Reynoso, saying they just expected the same as any other arts school.

“Other fine arts programs have senior shows. Their students have studio space,” Riccitiello said. “These are all things we should expect from USC.”

Despite their general frustration, the representatives from the undergraduate collective reiterated that they don’t dislike Roski or blame the faculty. On the contrary, their dissent stems instead from a genuine appreciation for their school and a desire to see it eventually reaching its full potential.

“Everything that we’re doing is coming from a sincere love for our school, because before anything ever happened, Roski was a really amazing place,” Riccitiello said. “We really care about the school, and we want to make it better not just for ourselves, but for future students.”