Accountability Statement

12/18/2025

To our community, and especially to those whom we let down.

William, Syd, and Mrghy are writing this statement together as the individuals most closely involved in this situation, but we, all Temple organizers - William, Syd, Mrghy, Dia, and Masha - want to take collective responsibility for the harm that occurred under our watch, and for the ways we failed to respond when we had the opportunity to do so. We want to be clear: multiple people were physically, emotionally, and sexually harmed, and our responses and inactions allowed that injury to continue. Given our roles as organizers of Temple, we were in a position to do more. 

We recognize that as organizers, educators, and visible members of this community, our positions gave us power. With that power came an expectation of care that we did not meet. Our inaction left the impression that some people were not believed, not protected, and not prioritized. We now understand that this failure exacerbated the paths through which people were harmed and created isolation for those of you who were brave enough to speak up. We did not translate our individual concerns into collective decision-making. We chose privacy, caution, and personal judgment in moments where our roles as organizers carried more weight than our individual personal experience. We failed at acting as a coordinated group to reassure the community that we heard and cared.

We are responsible for this. And we are so sorry

We want to acknowledge that our failures did not all look the same. Our roles, proximity, and relationships with the person who caused harm were different. Some of us had earlier knowledge; some of us attempted informal or private interventions; some of us avoided action out of fear or conflict aversion; some of us prioritized care, growth, or connection over consequences. While the shape of our failures differed, the impact was shared: people were hurt, and our community was not protected. We are not naming these differences to excuse ourselves, but to be honest. Each of us holds individual responsibility for the choices we made, the moments we stayed silent, and the times we chose our comfort, relationships, or uncertainty over decisive action.

We are also sorry that the systems we had created to collect and respond to harm were not effective when they were most needed. We had protocols. We had reporting structures. We had opportunities to act. This was a failure of process, and we take responsibility for it. We have since updated those systems to be more easily accessible on our website, and recognizing the difficulty presented by reporting to us directly, given our position in the community, we are utilizing a third party, better equipped to develop individualized interventions, to receive our reports.

The following accounting is not meant to function as a comprehensive timeline of incidents. We are intentionally not publishing private details out of respect for the privacy and autonomy of those who have not made their stories public.

In 2022, Mrghy’s rope partner, B, a regular attendee at Temple, hurt an individual at a Temple event hosted by William. Assuming good intent, our first choice was to engage in direct reparative conversation. At the time, with no prior warnings of problematic behavior from B, we hoped that facilitating direct communication between the involved parties and enforcing stricter rules in our space would be enough to change their behavior and avoid further similar incidents within the space. Following the harmed person’s request and expanding on it, we introduced clear guidelines regarding the use of certain tools in the space, had a lengthy conversation with B, and shared resources for further education. No other incident of that sort happened in our space after that, which we took as a good sign that growth was possible.

Soon after that, we also created the first version of our official reporting system: we made an Incident Report Form available on our social media page and website, linking it directly to all event pages and to confirmation emails attendees received.

Between the fall of 2022 and summer 2023, a different community member confided in private conversations to William and, several months later, to Syd, that they were sexually assaulted by the same person (B) at an event that was not held at or related to Temple. That story was not acted upon with the urgency or coordination appropriate to the harm. Despite these instances, when we heard other worrying stories over the years via private communications and indirect accounts, we did not share information internally as a full team. Furthermore, we didn't treat information that didn't come through our official reporting system or with an explicit request to the organization as a direct call for action.

This was a pattern of inaction, with regard to B,  that we recognize did not curb their threat of harm.

In the fall of 2024, we learned on social media of a grievous injury that occurred at B’s hands. While this did not happen at Temple or at one of Temple’s events, and while no direct ask was made of Temple or its organizers, it became apparent that there was a pattern of careless and risky behavior. We could have intervened with the authority granted us by our position, but once again hesitated. In the following months, Mrghy attempted a private intervention, that included limiting B’s interactions, checking-in regularly, enrolling them into therapy and requesting more consent education, but her own relationship with B became an obstacle to transparency: information was not shared with sufficient clarity, and she continued to allow B in the space for classes and private sessions, which we acknowledge contributed to endorsing his skills and presenting him as a trusted person. 

In the summer of 2025 when reports of B’s harm moved from private and anonymous platforms to widely acknowledged, we began the process of reaching out and offering support. But we know that acting only once harm is public is not accountability — it is reaction. We should have acted sooner, and we should have acted together.

We offer you, Temple attendees and the rope community at large, our sincerest apologies for not maintaining the standards of behavior, communication, and care that we stand for and that we all deserve. We are working hard to take responsibility, be accountable for our actions and inactions, and instate new organizational frameworks and communications. We are also continuing to make direct and ongoing amends so that we can all rebuild trust and move forward together.  

Over the past 5 months, we have listened to the calls from our community about what would have helped: clearer communication, faster intervention, and stronger consequences. We did not provide that when it mattered most.

We acknowledge this failure and apologize.

While we are taking steps as an institution to bolster our collective responsibility, each of us are also doing private, internal work to rectify the individual lapses that enabled B’s harm to continue. 

Going forward, we commit to the following, not as promises of perfection, but as standards we aspire to:

• We will communicate all concerns and reports to our whole team and engage in collective decision-making.

• We will use formal reporting and documentation processes every time.

• We will involve third-party support and oversight when harm is reported.

• We will center the needs of those harmed over our own comfort, assumptions, or relationships.

• We will proactively clarify expectations when reports come to us informally.

We offer this statement not as closure, but to acknowledge that we failed to stop and prevent harm, and the pain that caused. We understand that trust is rebuilt through consistent, visible action over time. We are committed to remaining in this work with humility, clarity, and care, while continuing to build Temple as a space for practice and education for the local rope scene.

with care,

Temple - Mrghy, Syd, William, Dia, Masha