Statement from the Citrus Circuits regarding IFI

FIRST General Forum
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In light of feedback from the FIRST community, including many first-hand concerns regarding IFI Executive Leadership and the workplace environment that leadership appears to have fostered, and the subsequent impact to individuals in the FIRST and broader community, Citrus Circuits has carefully reconsidered our relationship with IFI.

While we have great respect for many of the talented staff at IFI that we have worked with over the years, we believe that IFI Executive Leadership and the IFI workplace environment is not consistent with the mission, vision, and values of Citrus Circuits. As such, Citrus Circuits can no longer represent IFI as a member of Team IFI, effective immediately.

As long as this current Executive Leadership remains in place at IFI, Citrus Circuits will be working to identify and transition over the coming seasons to alternative STEM products and away from the VEX ecosystem. Our programs, including our FRC team, Career Technical Education Pathway, and Davis Youth Robotics family of programs, are much bigger than a single supplier or sponsor, and we expect to be successful in our efforts to transition away from VEX while maintaining the quality of our various programs. We will consider adjusting these plans if and when we receive notice of pertinent changes within Executive Leadership at IFI and a commitment to changing the workplace culture at IFI.

This situation highlights how much work lies ahead of us to change the culture around STEM more broadly, both in education and the workplace. Our team, led by our students and supported by our coaching staff, remains committed to our many efforts to change this culture for the better, and we strive to continue seeing progress in the years ahead, both locally and globally.

On behalf of Team 1678 Citrus Circuits,

-Mike

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Feel free to say no, but any chance you’d be willing to share how your organization came to this conclusion? What did that discussion look like? What was taken into consideration?

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One of the first few dominos.

Incredibly proud of Citrus. Y’all are a pillar of our community, and that is shining through yet again.

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This is what the i in FIRST is all about. Citrus continues to be a shining example for all teams to aspire to. Thank you to Mike and every other Citrus member for being role models in our community.

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Props to Citrus for being such an incredible team and a shining model of what it is to act with integrity and sticking to your values.

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Props to the entire Citrus Circuits program and team for making this difficult decision, but one that had to be made. 1678 continues to be a model team, not only by whats on the field but also whats behind it in their values and ethos. This is the prime example.

Thank you to Citrus Circuits.

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Thank you for this Mike. Hopefully having one high profile team be the first to take this step will lead other teams (big and small) to follow this example.

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You weren’t kidding with “effective immediately”. This page had IFI listed as one of their top sponsors just two days ago (last I checked).

Thank you, truly. 1678 continues to be one of the most impactful programs in FRC, and it’s people and teams like you that restore some of my faith in humanity. For the past few years, 1678 has had one of if not the largest, highest budget, and most competitive teams in FIRST - and they never let it get in the way of their morals.

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1678 has long been one of the programs in FRC that I looked up to as an example of a healthy, sustainable, impactful team. This decision further solidifies that belief. Thank you, Mike, for your willingness to make a decision like this and stay firm in your team’s values.

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I didn’t think Citrus and your program could be even more admirable :clap: :clap: :clap:

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When reading the IFI thread, my gut feeling was that nothing would happen of it, of what people shared.

I’ve never been more glad to be wrong.

Thank you Citrus Circuits. Thank you so much. :lemon:

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Wonderful to hear, especially from such a high profile team. Massive props for making the difficult but right decision.

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I always love to see an exit, voice, and loyalty situation play out. Hopefully this will spur IFI to fix the problematic parts of their company. Good job Citrus

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This is Citrus.

Such a respectable program.

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“In the heat of an ethical crisis… your chances of doing the right thing are greatly enhanced if you have thought about guidelines in advance… Often, you only have one shot at getting things right.”

“Gracious professionalism often involves thinking hard. Give yourself an advantage by thinking hard in advance. Spend some time on the canons of ethical behavior. Make sure you and your teammates are on the same page about complex issues.”

I’d call this Good Stuff, and so would another guy we know.

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My respect and admiration to 1678. I’ve tried to model what I do as a coach on what I’ve seen from your team and this is another great example.

Please let us know if we out here can do anything to support your team and organization. This is a large burden you’ve shouldered and we would love to help.

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When looking at everything that has been happening with the IFI thread, I was disappointed because I thought we could do nothing about it, but Citrus has proved me wrong and paved a path for other teams to avoid the corporate yoke and think independently. I love to see the activism!

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Citrus Circuits continues to be one of the most respectable and heartwarming teams I’ve ever seen. The choice to disband sponsorship with this controversy at hand is going to go a long way and is an inspiration to doing things right. FIRST is a program of bringing the future to bright minds, and not bringing harassment and harm to others.

1678 I applaud you for your continuous gracious professionalism.

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Thank you to 1678 for showing us how to maintain the utmost integrity in the face of a very difficult decision.

The message they have sent today is clear: A five figure sponsorship is not worth the pain and exploitation that sponsor causes its community.

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Thanks for leading by example in every way.

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