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COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES 15 CHRISTA NEU the dedication the Department of Theatre has had for a very long time to diversity. They didn’t just talk the talk, but walked the walk of retaining and promoting underrepresented faculty through the ranks.” As the nation was faced with what Johnson calls “the twin pandemics of systemic racism and COVID-19” in 2020, the theatre department strength- ened and focused its commitment to diversity. “I’m proud of my department because we continue to do the work that we’ve been doing and not having to use this moment to reassess or re-evaluate,” Johnson says. “If anything, we’re doubling down now. We’re trying to bring in more voices that we have always wanted to engage. We’re using theatre to meet, head on, the call for justice, the call for conversation, the call for self- ref lection. And the call for coming together in a safe place where we can hopefully change a little bit and become better. There’s a lot that theatre can do to heal and to foster and bridge new levels of understanding.” With live performances not an option during the pandemic, the department renamed what has become a virtual theatre season: Reboot the Future. “Due to the pandemic, we have been afforded the unique opportunity to explore and examine what it means to make theatre in the face of social distancing.” Johnson says. “Together, our students, faculty and staff have come up with an exciting new virtual season full of challenge and possi- bility. We’re really looking for ways to innovate.” Johnson also believes that collaboration among the arts departments and venues is key to raising the profile of the arts at Lehigh as well as in the surrounding community and online. Johnson has long felt that the arts at Lehigh are “a hidden gem” about which too many students are unaware. “Together, we are stronger and the arts are more powerful when they’re ref lecting and vibrating together,” she says. “It’s great that we’re using this time to get to know each other and building an alliance rooted in ally- ship. I’ve been here for 20 years and there have been times when collaboration seemed to be in name only. Projects were siloed and unique to a particular depart- ment or program. Today, we are a collection of new faces representative of new opportunities, reaching beyond boundaries set in the past. It’s truly exciting. Lehigh University Art Galleries: ‘Making Museums Matter’ Some people look at museums as “dusty warehouses of the past.” William Crow sees them as “places of possibility.” Since arriving at LUAG from New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art in August 2018, Crow has begun real- izing the boundless possibilities that open by engaging “ We provide a structured, exploratory space in which you can find meaning and find purpose through making.”