Email from CITSTS 9/21
From: Erica Moore
Date: Mon, Sep 21, 2020 at 7:41 AM
Subject: Regarding Taskforce
To: <circleofinequity@gmail.com>
To the leadership of Circle of Inequity,
Thank you for your email regarding policy questions. Your Instagram post, however, does not accurately reflect what has been accomplished or what is still in-progress at Circle. Plans for anti-racism workshops, off-site counseling, and policy revision were discussed clearly and at length in the two meetings held with COI leadership on August 25th and September 11th, 2020. Accordingly, we feel your Instagram statements are misleading in that they do not acknowledge the tremendous positive changes that have already been made. The misrepresentation of these concrete changes indicates that we are unable to communicate effectively as a working task force.
In initiating the Task Force, it was our hope that we would be able to work together on developing policy specific to Circle in the Square in terms of the unique challenges created by our space and the artistic education we offer. We feel that the alumni perspective on what should or should not happen in response to an unsafe experience due to racial bias or sexual misconduct will help us shape the policy and procedure that we follow.
We believe that Circle and COI share the same goal - the creation of a diverse, inclusive, equitable space in which all students feel emotionally and physically safe. It is now clear to us, however, that we hold significantly different views on how to best accomplish these goals, and unfortunately, these differences in approach continue to prevent the progress that is needed. Due to this, we have decided that it would not be productive to include COI in our student workshops or to continue the Circle/COI Task Force, and so we notify you that these collaborations are now concluded.
As an institution, we are committed to and solely responsible for continuing to do the work to ensure the changes made at Circle are deep, meaningful, and lasting. We will be posting regular updates on a new section of our website dedicated specifically for this purpose and will continue to welcome feedback from all alumni.
We honor all that you have done to bring attention to the change needed at Circle and for your contributions to date. You were heard, and we have responded, knowing that our work will be ongoing. We are grateful for your courage in standing up, speaking out, and for becoming the catalyst to bring about incredible, necessary, and overdue change to Circle in the Square Theatre School.
Thank you,
Benny Sato Ambush
Edward Berkeley
Shan Y. Chuang
Susan Frankel
Paul Libin
Erica Moore
Dan Renkin
Jeanne Slater
Natalie Wilson