Student Impact

Dontá McGilvery

Intervening in the school-to-prison pipeline

Theatre as intervention. Doctoral student, pastor and co-founder of Sleeveless Acts Drama Company in Phoenix, Dontá McGilvery received ASU’s 2019 MLK Jr.’s Servant-Leadership Award for his work that advances the representation and opportunities for oppressed groups. McGilvery advocates for a disruption of traditional K-12 and higher education curricula by intervening in domains where oppression is palpable, such as homelessness and the school-to-prison pipeline of African American youth. With theatre as a platform, McGilvery’s work counters inequality in the drama industry and society by empowering marginalized youth to use their voice to contest system injustices, inspire others and value narratives that have been historically silenced.