While I understand your point of view, and while I agree with you about the message behind "Parade" being all the more pertinent at a university like Notre Dame, which needs improvement in several aspects of diversity and tolerance, I think you and the PEMCo. staff are missing the point. Diversity in the arts is always a good thing, but why is this only an issue when a racially-charged play is being performed? Wouldn't a show like "Mamma Mia" that just happened to have some non-White leads serve the same purpose, namely subverting mainstream ideas about how race/ethnicity should play a certain part? I think the frustration Erdina ("Need for diversity in the arts," Feb. 8) expressed is in response to PEMCo. treating diversity like a pet project every few years, rather than as a general principle of an organization that should strive to maximize its talent, regardless of racial background.
Jasmin Simmons
junior
Pasquerilla West Hall
Feb. 10
