Berklee president: 11 faculty members have been terminated in 13 years for sex assault, harassment
Hundreds of Berklee College of Music students, holding signs that demanded “zero tolerance’’ for sexual assault and harassment and support for assault victims, marched down Boylston Street to the school’s performance center for an open forum on the problem.
President Roger Brown addressed a packed auditorium. He apologized to students who have been assaulted and pledged to “root out abusive behavior.’’ He also acknowledged the school has terminated 11 faculty members in the past 13 years for such behavior.
“It is not an insignificant issue,’’ he said.
Brown had suspended his annual state of the school speech Monday to hold the campus-wide meeting at the school’s famed concert hall.
The meeting came in the wake of a Boston Globe story that chronicled incidents since 2008 where students reported being assaulted, groped, or pressured into sex with their teachers, according to court documents and interviews with more than a dozen people.
“The recent Boston Globe article and surrounding communications have highlighted a strong need for a demonstrated commitment to open dialogue and cultural change at Berklee,’’ the school said in an e-mail Sunday night. “To that end, we’re suspending the State of the College and Conservatory event on Monday, November 13, and will instead hold an open forum about stopping sexual harassment and assault at Berklee.’’
The concert hall where the meeting was held seats 1,215 people.
“All students, faculty, and staff are welcome to attend and participate,’’ the e-mail said.
The meeting also came after some 4,000 people signed an online petition at Change.org calling on the school’s administration to directly address the issues raised by the Globe’s account that showed three professors were allowed to leave the school after they were accused of sexual misconduct by students.
“The day that the article was published, students received a mass e-mail that many students feel did not address the issue at hand,’’ the petition reads. “It simply stated that the school did not tolerate sexual assault, but their action (or lack of) says otherwise. Sign this petition to let Berklee administration know that you want them to properly address these allegations.’’
The Globe reported that administrators tolerated lecherous behavior, former Berklee students and employees said, and often silenced the accusers through financial settlements with gag orders attached.
