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Members Meet With University Students

By Susan Long, Denver Liaison Committee

On April 25, 2007, members of the Denver Area Liaison Committee met with students in the Theatre Program at the University of Colorado at Denver as part of their senior seminar training. The students' areas of interest included acting, stage management, directing, writing, design and technical theatre. Members Shelly Gaza, Lindsey Hanahan and I introduced ourselves and told how we had each gotten our Equity cards-Shelly through the Equity Membership Candidate (EMC) program, Lindsey with a contract, and me through another 4As union-conveniently covering all of the ways to join.

The students, who professed to know very little about Equity prior to the meeting, were shown a PowerPoint presentation prepared by the New York office. It is used specifically for educational outreach and includes a history of the union and the benefits of membership. Shelly, the youngest member present, who had recently joined the union, was an excellent resource for the students. She explained that joining Equity was always her goal, but that she had invested several years honing her craft as a non-union actor before she felt "ready" to join and compete on a wholly professional level.

I touched on the broad range of contracts under which a union member can work, and Lindsey clarified the contract opportunities available in Colorado. Daniel Koetting, Chair of CU-Denver's Theatre Department, initiated the meeting and reported positive feedback from his students. The participants enjoyed the opportunity to share their experiences and came away with a renewed sense of pride in the benefits and collegial affirmation of union membership.