December Update

Perhaps the most disruptive year in any of our lifetimes is coming to a close, and I think many of us are looking forward to a new year full of vaccines and actually speaking to the new neighbors (instead of just dropping a plate of welcome-to-the-neighborhood cookies on their front porch, ringing the bell, and then running for your life).

But amidst the chaos of a year undoubtedly caused by a series of time travelers trying to incrementally make the year less disaster-prone, and inadvertently making it progressively more nonsensical, we do want to share good news for FoDT and the theatre.

Last week, the Gay Dull Scholarship crossed the line to become fully funded! Thank you to everyone who donated their time, effort, and money to make this goal a reality. We have begun the process of formalizing the endowment so this scholarship will be available to DramaTech students in perpetuity. When we kicked off this fundraising effort in late April, we were concerned the scholarship might not last another two years - to be hitting this milestone seven months later, during a pandemic, is incredible, and we are grateful for your support and your generosity.

Speaking of scholarships, we are putting out the call for anyone interested in serving on the Scholarship Committee, to help write, review, and award the 2021 FoDT scholarships. If you are interested, please reach out to Committee Chair AJ Milton at scholarships@friendsofdt.org.

In other good news, our Board has survived a full year without anyone coming for us with pitchforks and torches. So I’m counting that as a win!

But, seriously, FoDT has accomplished a lot this year: we’ve funded a scholarship, we awarded that scholarship and two others to current students, we had alumni nights and participation in Open House, our Bylaws committee made great progress in drafting governing documents, we’ve joined together for four happy hours and have hosted social events with the students, we’ve launched a new website, and as an organization, we’ve been in regular contact with one another. All of these efforts, which so many of you have been a part of, will allow FoDT to reach further and do more in 2021 and beyond.

As we move into the New Year, we continue to welcome and encourage your thoughts and feedback. Email us at board@friendsofdt.org with any questions or comments you might have, and keep up with FoDT happenings with the FoDT Google Calendar and FoDT Google Drive. And, again, thank you!