Equity Concerns Bring Mass-Firing of Museum Volunteers

In the name of furthering the cause of racial equity, the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) recently fired all of its 122 active docents, 82 of whom worked as volunteer educators and tour guides, and the remaining 40 of whom were employed as unpaid “greeters” for school groups. In a letter explaining why their services were no longer required (reproduced in full here), Veronica Stein, the AIC Woman’s Board Executive Director of Learning and Public Engagement, wrote:As a civic institution, we acknowledge our responsibility to rebuild the volunteer educator program in a way that allows community members of all income levels to participate, responds to issues of class and income equity, and does not require financial flexibility to participate. Read Full Article »