Five hours into a sit-in at the Wolf Drama Center on Tuesday, Emily Roxworthy, dean of the School of Dramatic Arts, agreed to schedule a meeting with SDA students protesting the impact University-wide budget cuts and layoffs have had on the design and production programs. 

According to pamphlets handed out by students beginning at Saturday’s opening performance of “Legally Blonde,” the pressure to produce shows of the same quality with fewer resources and support staff led to SDA students working a collective over 500 hours of unpaid overtime. The pamphlet said this has had a negative impact on the students’ academics and mental health. 

An SDA student announced Roxworthy’s invitation to meet with a group of students from the entryway of the Drama Center to the courtyard below, where SDA students had gathered for the protest Tuesday. The group, surrounded by signs reading, “The student body deserves your respect” and “We cannot continue to be exploited,” responded with claps and cheers.

The student, who made the announcement and requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation from SDA, said the goal of the sit-in was to convince Roxworthy to meet with them, and that they were “pleasantly surprised” to receive the email from her assistant. 

“We’re glad that they’re finally seeing and hearing us and seemingly willing to listen,” the student said. “However, we are still understanding that we have a long road to go [down] in the process of these negotiations and are fairly unwavering on our demands. … We are, as always, skeptical that all this will be settled in one meeting.” 

The student said they responded to Roxworthy’s email with a proposed time to meet, as well as an introduction to the committee of students who would attend the meeting.

In a statement to the Daily Trojan, an SDA spokesperson said Roxworthy and Vice Dean Lori Ray Fisher were “eager” to meet with students

“The School of Dramatic Arts is committed to open communication with our students and welcomes the opportunity to discuss their concerns,” the statement read.

The sit-in was a continuation of a movement that began Saturday, when SDA students handed out pamphlets to people attending “Legally Blonde,” including Roxworthy and President Beong-Soo Kim. The pamphlet detailed demands of SDA, including hiring two full-time carpentry staff members, one full-time scenic painter or two part-time painters, and a costume shop manager. 

In a statement to the Daily Trojan on Sunday, 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.  

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.