Overview
- The Whitney announced Soyoung Yoon as the new director of its Independent Study Program after a pause of the fellowship that began in 2025.
- The program was suspended after the museum canceled a 2024–25 cohort performance about Palestinian mourning, a decision that prompted hundreds of alumni and faculty to sign an open letter charging the museum with censorship.
- Yoon is an ISP alumna and a New School and Parsons administrator who served on the 15-member advisory committee tasked with redesigning the program’s governance and policies.
- The museum says Yoon will lead efforts to rebuild confidence in the ISP’s leadership and accept a new cohort in fall 2027, while the program remains closed for the 2025–26 year.
- Yoon will be only the third director in the ISP’s history and the first woman and person of color in the role, a choice that could shift the program’s direction but will be tested by continued scrutiny over free expression and institutional accountability.