Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program Hosts Weekend With BTC

Earlier this month, the Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Program hosted its annual Scholarship weekend in New York City in partnership with BTC (Black Theatre Coalition). Upon arrival, students were surprised with a billboard in Times Square welcoming them to the city and to celebrate the CRR Scholarship Program’s 5th year. Members of the Broadway community including Whitney White, Narda Alcorn, Sammy Lopez, Heather Lanza and more led panels and workshops for the students to engage in. They also had the opportunity to meet one on one with mentors in various artistic and management fields.
 
While in the city, students saw some current Broadway hits including Boop, John Proctor is the Villain, The Last Five Years, Purpose, Cabaret and Real Women Have Curves. The weekend concluded with their annual brunch, hosted by The Town Hall, where students came together to reflect on the year and establish goals for their future.
 
Scholar Jeyna Lynn Gonzales says, “The CRR Scholarship helped me gain a stronger sense of my identity, both personally and professionally, by providing me with opportunities to connect with folks who are actively making waves in entertainment. I feel a lot more secure and confident in my ability to reach my goals because the CRR Scholarship Program showed me that it is possible. I am grateful for the community that I've gained, and I'm excited for the communities we will create."
 
The selected scholars who attended the NYC trip included Jasmine Brooks (Yale University), Jeyna Lynn Gonzales (University of California, Irvine), Bell Hernandez (University of California, Irvine), Brissa Lopez (Columbia University), Savanha Moore (University of Iowa), Briana Newson (California Institute of the Arts), Andre Rodriguez (Texas State University), Salomé A. Ayers Sánchez (University of North Carolina School of the Arts), Tait Truong (Oklahoma City University), and KayCi Wolf (Texas State University).
 
The CRR Scholarship program helps students reach their full artistic, academic and leadership potential by providing them: (1) a direct financial contribution to help ease the burden of the many costs of attending higher educational learning institutions, such as tuition, housing, textbooks and class fees; (2) a community of other young leaders to learn from and connect with; and (3) a series of workshops to build the knowledge, relationships and confidence to chart their own path in the industry.
 
The program strives to Encourage more Black, Asian, Latinx, Indigenous, and other students of color to pursue degrees in the theatrical management and non-performance artistic fields, such as Stage Management, Technical Theatre, Theatre Design, Playwriting, Directing or Theatre Management; cultivate and provide a space for this next generation of leaders, while welcoming their unique and necessary future contributions to the theatrical world; connect our scholars with other emerging and established community leaders of color to ensure they have the support and mentorship to thrive in the industry, and create a community of scholars who will learn and grow together throughout their various educational journeys and understand how they can play a role in building a more vibrant and equitable industry.

Photo credit: Grace Copeland