ASU's Tommie 'Tonea' Stewart steps into new role of a lifetime: Retirement
“I love my students, and I really am proud of the great strides that they’ve made," said Stewart, who is retiring as Alabama State University's dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts
The biggest complement to Tommie "Tonea" Stewart’s years as an educator and leader is the success of her students.
“I find myself calling them my Tony, and my Emmy, and my Oscar,” Stewart said Friday on her last day before retiring as dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Alabama State University. “I love my students, and I really am proud of the great strides that they’ve made.”
Along with her roles as an actor of stage, TV and film, Stewart’s been an educator for 48 years, and a part of the ASU faculty since 1990. In 2010, she stepped into the role of dean.
“It’s my prayer that the legacy of Alabama State University’s Theatre Arts Department will remain intact and that the leadership to come will build on the foundation that we’ve laid,” said Stewart, who was recognized by President Barack Obama as a “Champion of Change.”
The college contains three accredited programs: visual arts, theatre arts and music. “The theatre department has grown in faculty and staff,” Stewart said. “I think we may have the largest theatre faculty staff for an HBCU in the nation. I know when I left the program to become dean nine years ago, we had the largest enrollment of any other HBCU for students.”
In her time at ASU, Stewart said more than 56 of their graduates have earned the Master of Fine Arts degrees. “The majority of those graduates were given full rides in graduate programs,” she said. Along with producing new generations of professional artists for stage, TV and film, they’ve produced technical production staff, educators, lawyers and more. “I believe that if we can keep the energy and the focus and training as a part of the curriculum in theatre, our students will soar continuously.”
Along with her role as dean, Stewart has also served ASU as a tenured professor, department chair and as a visible and beloved ambassador.
"Dean Stewart will be greatly missed by everyone at Alabama State University,” said ASU President, Dr. Quinton T. Ross Jr. in a statement on Stewart’s retirement. “We are grateful for her leadership in the College of Visual and Performing Arts and for her dedication to her students. We certainly wish her well, but she will always be a valued member of the ASU family.”
Lois Jackson, Stewart’s executive assistant, said Stewart’s legacy is award-winning students. “Under Dean Stewart's leadership, ASU has become known nationwide for its innovative and successful programs in visual and performing arts, which makes stars out of her students at Alabama State University," Jackson said.
Stewart said she believes the department will continue to thrive. She urged ASU’s students, past and present, to not forget where they came from. “And to reach back and help those who are following in your footsteps,” she said. “It’s because of where they are and what they’ve become that the new students are coming our way to Alabama State.”
Guided by Stewart
Wendy R. Coleman, chair for the Department of Theatre, first saw Stewart at an ASU convocation in 1990.
“It was a speech, and a performance and, ah, it was wonderful for a 19-year-old sophomore who really didn’t know what she wanted to study. Didn’t know what she wanted to do,” Coleman said. “When I came in, I was an education major. I changed to social work, and by the time I met Dr. Stewart I had changed to math. When I saw her speak at that convocation, I knew that’s who I needed to connect with.”
That connection would came later when Coleman was in a talent show. This time it was Stewart’s turn to look on. “She saw me and she came down and cast me on the spot for ‘The Amen Corner,’ the production that they were working on,” Coleman said. “The rest is history. I learned under her. I graduated by my bachelor’s degree. Went to Florida State, just as she did, to pursue my doctorate degree.”
After earning her doctorate, Coleman came back to ASU to work for three years. “I went away for 10 years, and then I had the blessing of coming back in 2010, working under (Stewart) again,” Coleman said. “She is an awesome mentor, a teacher, and now a friend, a colleague, a supervisor. All of that rolled into one, who has a genuine care for people. A genuine love and care for people.”
Summer theatre camps
It’s not just college students that Stewart has influenced. This June, like every summer for almost three decades, they’ll have a series of summer camps that range from youths to adults: TAPS (Theatre Artist Performing School) for ages 6-12; Camp 3T (Teaching Through Theater) for ages 13-18; TTI (Technical Theatre Initiative) for ages 15-18; ARPAC (Adult Repertory Performing Arts Camp) for ages 19 and up; and GIFTED (Giving Individual Freedom to Express Diversity) for ages 13-21.
"Each summer, youth come from all over the country to participate in intensive arts, music and dance training from Dr. Stewart," Jackson said.
Stewart confirmed that the summer theater camp programs will continue under different leadership. “All the paperwork and the steps for keeping the camps going have been put in place,” Stewart said. “I’ve been working on putting it in place for the last four or five years.”
She’s looking forward to the camps this summer, and said she’ll still be involved as a volunteer. “It’s truly in the hands of the new leadership,” Stewart said. “As long as they love working with children, and respect the energies of the children, the camps will go well,” Stewart said.
Learn more about the camps online at www.toneastewartcamps.com.
Acting career
As an actor, Stewart has appeared in films like “Mississippi Burning,” “A Time to Kill,” “The Rosa Parks Story” and “Mississippi Damned.”
She also had a recurring role on television as Miss Etta Kibbee in the long-running television series “In the Heat of the Night," and also appeared in classic shows like "Walker, Texas Ranger," "Touched by an Angel" and "Matlock."
Recent roles include the films “Girls Trip” and in the Netflix original “Come Sunday.”
With her retirement from ASU, Stewart said she’d love to use some of her newfound time to take on more roles.
“When I became dean, I had my agent to slow down the offers and calls,” Stewart said. “And now, I hope that was not too grave of a mistake, because it made me become forgotten in the industry in some ways. But I would love to embark upon that area.”
New goals
Still, acting is something that’s “second on the burner” for her. She said family is going to come first.
“God has been so good. I have no complaints,” Stewart said. “I just look forward to the future, watching my children embark upon their goals in life, and my grandchildren.”
For now, she’s planning on getting a little rest and enjoying the role as a wife, mother and grandmother. Her husband Allen, also a professor at ASU, retired as well on Saturday. Now, while they have the time and energy, she said they want to focus on their family’s goals.
“I had to stop and think about the fact that our children sacrificed so much for my husband and I to achieve what we’ve achieved in higher education,” Stewart said. “All of their lives, they’ve allowed us to become involved in the lives of the students that we work with, and in our jobs and our professions.”
Stewart said she and her husband are “looking and thinking” about where they will retire to, but haven’t made any decisions yet. She said the people of Montgomery have been a pleasure to live and work with. “Montgomery has been wonderful,” she said. “It would be hard to pack up and leave. So right now, we’re home.”
“We don’t say that we’ll miss her, because we know that every time that we need her we’re going to pick up the phone and she’s always going to answer,” Coleman said. “She’s always going to come see about us.”
Beyond Montgomery, she also has different communities that are welcoming. She’s a native of Greenwood, Mississippi.
“My state of Mississippi has always had it’s arms around me,” Stewart said. “They always invite me back. My other home in California is the same way.”