Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs promises 'dramatic steps' to increase diversity of Academy
With the #OscarsSoWhite again, Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs has released a statement promising “dramatic” action to step up the diversity of the makeup of the Academy membership.
“I’d like to acknowledge the wonderful work of this year’s nominees. While we celebrate their extraordinary achievements, I am both heartbroken and frustrated about the lack of inclusion,” Isaacs said Monday in a statement, reports the Daily News.
“This is a difficult but important conversation, and it’s time for big changes. The Academy is taking dramatic steps to alter the makeup of our membership. In the coming days and weeks we will conduct a review of our membership recruitment in order to bring about much-needed diversity in our 2016 class and beyond.”
Isaacs acknowledged that promises like this had been made before, but she hoped that the announcement would at least bring some forward motion.
“As many of you know, we have implemented changes to diversify our membership in the last four years,” she continued. “But the change is not coming as fast as we would like. We need to do more, and better and more quickly.”
She then added, “We recognize the very real concerns of our community, and I so appreciate all of you who have reached out to me in our effort to move forward together.”
