Dear members of the Berklee community,

Yesterday, the Boston Globe published a story about recent social media posts by Berklee students. In these posts, students shared strong feelings about experiences they described having with some Berklee faculty members.

I want to reaffirm my unwavering commitment to eliminating harassment and misconduct from our campus, and apologize to anyone who has experienced mistreatment at Berklee. The behaviors that cause us to take action against faculty are abhorrent, and we will continue to do everything within our power to eliminate these behaviors from our community.

Students, we know you are frustrated. We know you’re not eager to hear us repeat our consistent refrain that we encourage you to report these cases so that we can investigate them. But please understand, the reason we say this is because it is true: The most powerful way to eliminate harassment and misconduct on our campus is for us to continue to receive reports to our Equity Team from our community, and to conduct full and fair investigations of each report. Reports to our Equity Team—and their subsequent investigations into allegations—allow us to take action.

While social media has an important role in illuminating the experiences of survivors, we cannot impose a sanction based solely on a social media post. We must conduct a thorough investigation using our equity process in order to terminate or otherwise sanction a faculty member.

I want you to know that we’ve heard your concerns about the amount of time these cases can take to investigate. These decisions must be able to withstand intense scrutiny, including an appeal, a grievance and arbitration from our faculty union, or a legal challenge. Failure to conduct rigorous investigations could lead to outcomes being overturned, or offenders being reinstated. Throughout the process, we are also committed to regularly communicating with both the complainant and the respondent, and we welcome their questions and feedback.

The Globe article details three cases that were reported to the Equity Team. One was reported, investigated, and led to a serious sanction. The second was reported, investigated, and, as indicated by the Globe, resulted in a termination. The third happened three weeks ago; it was reported and is currently being investigated. Each of these matters has been or is currently being addressed through our equity process.

We’ve heard many requests for details in these cases, but we must respect confidentiality for our equity process to work. It takes courage for a student to make a report, and we work hard to support them in doing so. National experts have assured us that respecting confidentiality and conducting fair investigations encourages reporting. To further encourage reporting, we offer a variety of options for doing so, including anonymous reporting, filing a formal complaint with Berklee, and filing a complaint with the Boston Police Department.

We have a strong track record of taking decisive action when an investigation shows that a serious policy violation has occurred. Depending on the severity and frequency of the conduct, sanctions can include mandated education or training, a period of suspension, a final written warning, or termination of employment.

In the past two years in particular, we have worked hard to improve our channels for reporting incidents, and have expanded resources for community members. In early 2018, with the support of our faculty union, we created an unequivocal policy prohibiting sexual or romantic relationships between faculty or staff and students. We have re-examined and improved our equity policies with the advice of national experts, and we have built a strong and experienced Equity Office team, led by Kelly Downes. Kelly is a lawyer whose prior work includes prosecuting sex crimes and advising on internal investigations of sexual harassment by police officers—work that requires strength and wisdom.

We know that, at times, reporting parties may not agree with an investigator’s findings or the sanctions applied, but as I said to the Globe, we believe in the integrity of our process, and have confidence in the outcomes assigned in each case, based on the information and evidence available.

As we navigate through this difficult time, I encourage those with relevant information to come forward and make reports to our Equity Team. Many of you noticed flyers around campus last week that suggested specific faculty members are under investigation for misconduct. Many of the people on that list have never been named in an official complaint. It is counterproductive to imply that people who’ve never been reported are under investigation, and it decreases confidence in the system we’ve worked so hard to build. If you would like to report an incident, please know that we will treat your complaint with the confidentiality, respect, and seriousness it deserves.

Allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment in our society at large—and especially in the entertainment industry and higher education—are coming to light through the courage of individuals willing to speak out. I encourage everyone in our community to do so if you see or experience misconduct. While policies and investigations are crucial, true change will happen only when we all take responsibility for changing behavior and continue to administer serious consequences to those who refuse to comply with our values and our standards.

Last week, I met with a group of faculty members who care deeply about this issue. We discussed how much work is yet to be done and how hard it is to root out abusive behavior. One of the members said we are confronted by this because “we are doing the work.” And doing the work exposes the ugly and reprehensible, but it is the best and perhaps only way to move our institution, and our society, forward.

Sincerely,

Roger H. Brown
President, Berklee