Amid tears of joy and standing ovations, beloved actor and literary champion LeVar Burton (’76) returned to his alma mater, the USC School of Dramatic Arts (SDA), to accept the School’s prestigious Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists. During the event marked by heartfelt tributes, the Emmy and Grammy Award-winning alumnus was recognized for his lifelong commitment to using drama as a force for positive change—from his groundbreaking role in Roots to inspiring generations of young readers—while SDA simultaneously celebrated three decades of the School’s commitment to use theatre as a tool for social change under the leadership of Dr. Brent Blair.
A Legacy of Storytelling and Social Impact
Named after the legendary actor and filmmaker Robert Redford, who received the inaugural award in 2010, the Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists celebrates individuals who inspire positive change and empower communities through art. Friends, faculty, students and alumni took turns celebrating Burton, who has been a dramatic force for good throughout his career.
“LeVar’s body of work is a true testament to the impact that the dramatic arts can have on our world,” said Emily Roxworthy, dean of the School of Dramatic Arts. “He exemplifies the social consciousness our students develop here at USC and take with them as they graduate and enter the professional world.”
Discovered during a USC production of Oklahoma! in his sophomore year, Burton went on to embody transformative roles like Kunta Kinte in Roots and Geordi La Forge in Star Trek: The Next Generation, while championing literacy through his iconic PBS show Reading Rainbow. His impact has earned him numerous accolades, including six NAACP Awards, a Peabody, a Grammy, 14 Emmys, and the 2023 National Humanities Medal for his literacy advocacy.
Senior Isadora Swann (BA Theatre and BA Nongovernmental Organizations & Social Change ‘25) introduced Burton with a speech about what his work meant to young Trojans like her.
“It is alumni like LeVar Burton that I look to as an astounding example of how to live in harmony with your beliefs, in service of your community, and in honor of those who came before you,” she said. “Mr. Burton has spent his career creating the world I want to live in, where storytelling is our way forward to forging a future filled with compassion and the shared strength of collective empowerment.”
Three Decades of Theatre for Change
The ceremony also celebrated 30 years of the USC School of Dramatic Arts’ efforts to use theatre as a powerful tool to address pressing social issues and empower its students to be voices for change. Friends, students and colleagues gathered to celebrate that work, led by Dr. Brent Blair, founding director of the USC Institute for Theatre & Social Change, whose work at the intersection of theatre and social change has touched lives and impacted generations.
Artist and alumna Patrisse Cullors (MFA in Art ’19), one of the founders of Black Lives Matter and Crenshaw Dairy Mart, reflected on her long friendship with, and admiration for, Dr. Blair.
“If you have not shed tears with this man, you have not hung out with this man,” Cullors said. “Brent has loved on his community in ways that are deep, real and steadfast. He has held space for so many of us, through joy, through grief, through moments of reckoning and moments of celebration. We have cried together. We have protested together—over and over and over again.”
Dr. Blair was preceded by psychologist, philanthropist and longtime friend Dr. Bill Resnick, who highlighted the pressing need for applied theatre and praised Blair’s tireless work to make the world a better place.
Moments before Blair took the stage to be celebrated, Dr. Resnick announced the creation of the new Brent Blair Theatre and Social Change Endowment Fund, which will help ensure the pivotal work being done by Dr. Blair and the USC Institute of Theatre & Social Change will continue now and into the future.
Visibly moved, Dr. Blair took the stage and thanked those he had called colleagues, friends and family for the past 30 years at the USC School of Dramatic Arts.
He offered a mix of gratitude and urgency as he discussed the need for understanding and compassion in a world where those things sometimes seem in short supply.
“We’re not the stories we are told, we’re not the stories we live, we are not even the stories we read,” Dr. Blair said. “We are the stories that we re-write. That’s the true legacy of engaged artists: to re-write the stories that you’re reading.”
Reimagining Stories, Rebuilding Connections
Following an introduction by longtime friend and SDA alumnus Richard G. Weinberg (BFA ’76), LeVar Burton took the stage to accept the Robert Redford Award for Engaged Artists. In a speech filled with emotion, Burton noted the trying political divisions that are occurring in the country but insisted that storytelling has a place in healing those divisions.
“If we are willing to sit in the presence of one another long enough… to listen to their story, without interruption and without self-reference… we will discover we have more in common than we expect,” he said.
“Commonality breeds understanding. If we can get to understanding, then we know that empathy is right next door. And if we can establish empathy for one another, then compassion is possible.”
Burton concluded with his iconic Reading Rainbow sign-off—“But you don’t have to take my word for it”—before the curtain rose to reveal the USC Trojan Marching Band playing the Reading Rainbow theme, bringing the audiences to their feet in celebration.
“Dream the big dream. Don’t be afraid to dream the big dream,” he urged the crowd of future storytellers and change-makers. “The universe supports those who dare to dream of changing the world.”
As applause filled the Bing Theatre, the evening stood as a powerful testament to the USC School of Dramatic Arts’ commitment to developing not just artists but engaged citizens whose stories can bridge divides and inspire compassion. With the newly established Brent Blair Theatre and Social Change Endowment Fund and alumni like Burton leading by example, SDA continues its mission of leveraging the dramatic arts as a catalyst for social transformation—one story, one stage, one reimagined narrative at a time.
