We, the alumni, have come together to demand change. The overwhelming abundance of oppression and abuse of power which plagues your institution and its past and present participants must be addressed and rectified. Your silence is deafening and your inaction in the face of racial discrimination, exploitation of racial trauma, and cultural appropriation illustrates irresponsibility as an institution and a lack of care for the student body.

 Below is a list of actions that we demand be fulfilled in order to protect future students from being abused and violated by the current administration's willful ignorance:

1.    We demand a third-party investigation and immediate removal of the faculty and administration guilty of initiating and encouraging repeated and unapologetic racial micro- and macro-aggressions, cultural appropriation, and verbal abuse against BIPOC students. See student letters for examples.

2.    We demand a formal and public apology on all social media and public platforms on behalf of the Board of Directors and the institution’s heads addressed to its past and present BIPOC students. This should be followed up by an email sent directly to the school’s alumni and current students that acknowledges the events in the students’ letters.

3.    We demand that the roles and responsibilities of Admissions and Alumni Affairs Coordinator currently occupied by Whitney Kaufman be delegated into separate administrative positions filled by BIPOC.

a.    To further efforts towards inclusive representation within the staff, a member of the LGBTQIA+ community must be hired; another grossly underrepresented community within the institution.

4.    We demand mandatory equity, diversity, and inclusion training spearheaded by BIPOC for staff and students at the beginning of every academic year, effective immediately.

5.    We demand a mental health counsellor. If the institution cannot afford a mental health professional, it should partner with an organisation that can ensure students are receiving the mental healthcare services they deserve. Include BIPOC and LGBTQ+ mental health professionals.

6.    We demand a statement of intention from Executive Director E. Colin O’Leary by the start of the 2020-2021 academic school year on how he plans to integrate BIPOC and LGBTQ+ faculty and administration.

7.    We demand individual statements of intention from the faculty by the start of the 2020-2021 academic school year, including:

a.    An updated and diverse reading list with BIPOC and LGBTQ+ playwrights. This should include materials for Scene Study, European Scene Study, Musical Theatre Scene Study, Singing Interpretation, and the Musical Performance reading list. This new diverse material should be available through the school’s library.

b.    Restructuring Speech Class to adequately apply IPA work in other classes curriculums. The exclusive teaching of the mid-Atlantic dialect as a base is outdated and does not prepare students for dialect work in second year, let alone the current state of the industry.

c.     The Festival of Theatre should be a reflection of the diverse world in which the students live in.

d.    The Arts Outreach performances for audiences of grades K-6 should require an open alumni audition and be an equal opportunity. It is currently stated that these shows are performed by the Alumni Ensemble, but such an ensemble does not presently exist.

8.    We demand the re-evaluation of the Showcase structure to better support the students.

a.    When BIPOC/LGBTQ+ individuals bring in material to work with, the faculty must read and research it.

We understand the time it will take to fulfill and implement these demands. Nevertheless, we genuinely cannot encourage prospective students to attend Circle in the Square Theatre School in its current state. It is not enough to be non-racist; we all must be actively anti-racist. Currently neither of these practices exist institutionally. To read our full letter visit circleofinequity.com

Sincerely,

Circle of Inequity