To All Concerned Parties,

It is with extreme disappointment that we are writing this message today. The Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program at Hunter College, moreover the Dance Department as a whole has been experiencing egregious racism which has been amplified over the past few weeks. One of the many issues that have come to light was a lesson taught by Ana Nery Fragoso, the current Director of the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program and former Dance Director for the NYCDOE Office of Arts and Special Projects. This lesson was a blatantly racist lesson presented to the DANED 762 Methods of Teaching Dance II course at Hunter College, entitled  Bringing History to Life Through Dance: The Underground Railroad. This unit is designed for fourth grade students to choreograph a dance for their school’s Black History Month Performance, and was published by Ms. Fragoso in the NYC Elementary Dance Unit materials in 2006. Within this lesson, a list of action words ask students to “scrub,” “dig,” and “pick cotton”all with the emotion of “sad,” among various other wildly inappropriate tasks. Students were also tasked with the “the actions of pulling and jumping over taking turns with a partner,” to reenact jumping over a river which was, “based on the idea of the slaves crossing a river on a boat at the end of the journey to freedom.” This is just the beginning of the blatant ignorance and racism present within this lesson.

The materials for this unit are copyrighted 2006 and have since been removed from the NYC Department of Education Website, previously under “Dance Units.” This unit is currently shown as the 5th grade Sample Thematic Unit on page 23 of the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in Dance. As future educators, we would like to believe that this lesson is not an accurate representation of what the New York City Department of Education teaches and values. 

The damage this unit has done is irreversible. It is urgent that immediate action is taken, especially because it is currently being recommended to your educators as a resource for their elementary classrooms. We are asking for Ana Nery Fragoso to be fired from her position as Director of the AGDEP program at Hunter College because she is not fit to uphold our department’s mission statement, "Hunter Dance is a radically diverse community cultivating an expansive dance education driven by persistent inquiry, to elevate dance as a vehicle for positive change in the world." Ana is also in violation of the CUNY Policy on Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination^1 by creating a classroom and program environment that feels unwelcoming for all students because of her racial prejudice. 

Thank you for taking the time to read these concerns. We will start by sending these signatures to these Hunter faculty members: 

• Paul Dennis: Dance Department Chair
• Andrew J. Polsky: Dean of Arts and Sciences
• Robert Kulesz: Assistant to the Dean
• Collin Craig: Assistant Dean of Curriculum, Academic Program Review and Graduate Programs
• Derek Davis: General Counsel and Senior Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs
• Hunter College Envoy

and anyone else we may need. 

1 THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK POLICY ON EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AND NON-DISCRIMINATION

I. Policy on Equal Opportunity and Non-Discrimination
The City University of New York (“University” or “CUNY”), located in a historically diverse municipality, is committed to a policy of equal employment and equal access in its educational programs and activities.  Diversity, inclusion, and an environment free from discrimination are central to the mission of the University.

It is the policy of the University—applicable to all colleges and units— to recruit, employ, retain, promote, and provide benefits to employees (including paid and unpaid interns) and to admit and provide services for students without regard to race, color, creed, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth and related conditions), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, marital status, partnership status, disability, genetic information, alienage, citizenship, military or veteran status, status as a victim of domestic violence/stalking/sex offenses, unemployment status, or any other legally prohibited basis in accordance with federal, state and city laws.[1]

This Policy also prohibits retaliation for reporting or opposing discrimination, or cooperating with an investigation of a discrimination complaint.