Dear Faculty,

As students of the BFA acting program, we strongly request the readmission of our peer Michael Bortolin into the BFA acting program graduating class of 2014. As a cohort, we are extremely disappointed in the judgement exercised in dismissing him from the program. Based on all we have seen of him this semester, we wholeheartedly believe our class will be weakened in his absence. In studying and working alongside Michael these past eight months, we confidently stand behind him as a talented, disciplined, and inspiring actor. Michael’s ability to bring his characters to life on stage in a subtle and understated way is unique in our class; he trusts enough not to “push” and the result is a natural quality which we believe is highly valuable to our ensemble. Moreover, Michael’s discipline throughout the program has been unwavering. He comes to class prepared, when needed uses his breaks to connect with concepts taught in class, and respects ‘the space’ and his fellow actors enough to refrain from socializing in the studio regularly. These impressive work habits, along with many others, help encourage others in the class to follow his example. In class work, Michael’s often internal processing is always respectful of the ensemble; we believe his personal method of integration never impedes the growth of individual members of the class, nor the growth of the group as a whole. Overall, Michael’s absolute dedication and passion for acting inspires his classmates to immerse themselves more fully in the work. Lastly, Michael always puts running his lines over ‘running his mouth’. He contributes enormously to the class dynamic by consciously choosing to disengage from class gossip, while remaining a social and pleasant member of the class. Over the year, Michael has grown to talk, joke, and interact with a number of his classmates as well as the intermediate and final year students, while never contributing to class conflicts, and has therefore served as a mediating presence. Overall, we believe that Michael plays a vital role in the high quality work we produce as a class, and strongly believe he deserves to be in this program. Thank you for your consideration.

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