Mark Hairston '99

Since 1976, National Black History Month has had an endorsed theme as a part of the celebration. For 2024, the theme is "African Americans and the Arts," spanning the many impacts Black Americans have had on visual arts, music, dance, theater, and cultural movements. This month’s spotlight features a small group of Black GDS Alumni who have used their artistic talents and skills to be agents of change to create, uplift, and inspire. 

Introducing…Mark Hairston ‘99

Mark is a theater director and university professor. 

“GDS was always a community that valued the arts, and as a student I was offered many meaningful opportunities to engage with art. I am now a professional theater director, actor, and scholar. It was teachers at GDS that sparked my interest in, and ultimate love for theater.”

Mark also credits a great theater program at GDS along with the teachers that sparked his interest.

“I didn’t imagine at first that I, myself, would become involved in theater,” he said, “I was all about basketball and martial arts at the time. But I took an acting class with Andrea Oram as an elective my sophomore year. She really encouraged me to keep acting, saying I had a lot of raw talent and should audition for GDS main stage shows. I ultimately took her suggestion, and I got bit by that infamous theater bug. I have followed the call ever since and have been fortunate to make a career—a life—of my theater practice.”

Mark said that Laura Rosberg was the teacher at GDS who inspired him the most. “What a legend!” he said.