Editor’s Note: This article was updated April 7 at 12:51 p.m. to remove identifying information about an anonymous student.

About 20 USC School of Dramatic Arts students stood outside Bing Theatre on Saturday afternoon, handing out pamphlets titled “SDA STUDENTS EDUCATION UNDER ATTACK” to theatergoers attending the opening show of SDA’s production of “Legally Blonde.” 

The pamphlets said that after budget cuts to SDA, Dean Emily Roxworthy expected design and production students — costume, scenic, audio and lighting design majors, as well as technical direction and stage management majors — to produce shows of the same quality as before despite having fewer resources, causing strain on their mental health and academics. 

“The reason many of us came to the school was because the program is so well defined and was so strong, and unfortunately, I’m watching it decline before my very eyes,” said a student who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation from SDA administrators. “None of us want to be out here in the sun. All we want is respect from the administration and for them to hear us and take action.”

In a statement to the Daily Trojan, an SDA spokesperson said students’ education was a “primary consideration” as SDA navigated the university-wide budget cuts and that SDA was “actively addressing” many of the staffing and resource concerns referenced in the pamphlet.  

“Dean Roxworthy has remained committed to communicating openly regarding these challenging budget decisions — meeting regularly with faculty, staff, student groups, and any individual who requests time with her. We are grateful for the contributions of everyone who is a part of the SDA community,” the statement read.

In September 2025, the Daily Trojan reported that budget cuts to SDA had left no scenic support staff, and one remaining professor who could oversee the Technical Theatre Lab, where sets are constructed and maintained. The University also sunset its technical direction Bachelor of Fine Arts program, and SDA’s student-worker budget was reduced, limiting the amount of students who could assist with production.

The layoffs were part of University-wide efforts to address a $200 million operating deficit. USC gave every school a portion of its $400 million saving goal to eliminate from their budget, which Provost Andrew Guzman said would be nearly “impossible” for the schools to reach without layoffs.  

The pamphlet said that roughly 85 design and production students worked over 500 hours of unpaid labor combined in Fall 2025 to ensure sets for SDA’s theatrical performances were built. 

A different SDA student who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation from school administration said they had to do design work in other classes because staffing cuts left them overwhelmed by increased workload. 

“Any time that I wasn’t in class, I was in the theater for the show that I was working on,” the student said. “Any free time that I had automatically went to this production that I was working on, and as much as I love doing what I do, at some point, you kind of need a break, and you need to be able to take care of yourself too.”

The first anonymous SDA student said they worked 98 hours of unpaid overtime to successfully finish work for “Legally Blonde.” The student said the overtime was necessary because of SDA’s “reckless” staff cuts, which they blamed Roxworthy for.

The demands listed in the pamphlet included hiring two full-time carpentry staff members, one full-time scenic painter or two part-time painters, a costume shop manager and giving production professors control of the hiring committee.

The pamphlet said Roxworthy could have contested the budget cuts made to SDA if the proposed cuts would have impacted students’ education. In a Sept. 17, 2025, Academic Senate meeting, Guzman said USC schools were asked to identify if any proposed cuts would endanger USC’s academic mission and, if the University concurred with that argument, the cuts would be rejected.

“[Roxworthy] knows and takes advantage of the fact that we are too passionate to sacrifice our future for her choices,” the pamphlet read.

A third SDA student, who requested anonymity out of  fear of retaliation, said their demands are not intended to ask for anything more than restoring the SDA design and production programs to their former quality. 

“[If the demands were met] we would not only be getting the education that we [were] promised, but a high-quality one,” the student said. “I may be older, but I think about the incoming freshmen who are promised something that they’re never going to receive.”

Students handed pamphlets directly to Roxworthy and President Beong-Soo Kim on their way into “Legally Blonde.” A fourth SDA student, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation, said they chose Saturday to distribute pamphlets and collect signatures because they knew Kim would be in attendance. 

According to the pamphlet, in addition to five laid-off staff, six SDA staff members resigned because of a “lack of support” from Roxworthy. The pamphlet also said that 40 SDA students wrote a statement expressing their concerns to Roxworthy, which the dean allegedly said she would “skim.” The Daily Trojan could not immediately confirm the reason for the resignations or Roxworthy’s response.

The pamphlet encouraged students with opinions on Roxworthy to contact the Dean Review Committee, which the pamphlet said is currently reviewing her performance. 

In a statement to the Daily Trojan, an SDA spokesperson wrote that the dean’s review is a “routine, Provost-led five year process standard across USC” which Roxworthy encouraged the SDA community to contribute to. 

As a freshman, the fourth anonymous SDA student said they think they won’t receive the same level of education as upperclassmen did, and would not be able to produce shows of the same quality. 

“[The budget cuts will] affect the way in which I am able to do what I love, and it will put more stress on me,” the student said. “Everything will just kind of have to become mediocre, because that’s all that we will be able to do.”