Camille Pajor | Staff Portrait

Title IX Coordinator

Born a few blocks away from Juilliard, at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital, Camille Pajor grew up in Woodhaven, Queens. She’s been promoting Queens and its cultural diversity since eighth grade, when she and her best friend produced a documentary called Queens: A Frontier for Immigrants in History and won first place at a New York City history fair. “Thankfully our research and content was solid because our tech was incredibly clunky!” After receiving her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Adelphi University, Camille started working there as a residence hall director, moving up to be director of student conduct and community standards before arriving at Juilliard last year. She’s happy to give Queens cuisine/activity recommendations to—or practice speaking Ukrainian, Polish, or Russian with—community members.

How did you end up working at Juilliard?
Working in student conduct at Adelphi, I addressed a variety of conflicts, but the majority of my time was spent on Title IX investigations and adjudication, and I decided to pursue Title IX as a specialty. I was very excited to see the Title IX Coordinator posting at Juilliard. I grew up studying ballet, playing flute and piccolo, and acting. After doing a summer Shakespeare program at NYU, I considered studying drama in college. I ended up being enchanted by liberal arts and declaring a philosophy major and art history minor instead, but performing arts will always have a special place in my heart.

What’s been one of your favorite days here so far?
Any day I get to see a Juilliard performance is a favorite day. It is such a pleasure to see our students’ talent and dedication fill spaces with joy, beauty, and reflection on the human condition. Juilliard feels like a magical place—I often compare it to Hogwarts. I feel incredibly privileged to be part of and serve this community.

What has surprised you about working here?
I didn’t expect it to be such a friendly environment, but the students, faculty, and staff have been very welcoming, kind, and collaborative. These values are very important to me and make it easier to leave my dog at home each day.

What is the most memorable job you’ve had?
Serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine (2009-11). My primary assignment was to teach English in a primary/secondary school in the town of Kozova. I also became involved in other initiatives, including starting a Little League and serving in the leadership of Peace Corps Ukraine’s Gender and Development Council—through that and the International Organization for Migration, I led two nationwide anti-human trafficking campaigns. But what stands out most are the amazing people who shared this adventure with me—my host families, students, teachers, and fellow volunteers (one of whom I married). I keep in touch with many of them and look forward to visiting Ukraine again.

If out of the blue your boss said to take the day off, what would you do?
Probably start the day with some yoga and then take my dog, Ringo Spott, for a long walk in Forest Park, which has a lot of lovely wooded trails. I also enjoy reading, traveling, and going to movies, shows, and museums.

What other pursuits are you passionate about?
Volunteerism—I believe service has the power to change communities for the better. I also love dogs, and I combine these passions in my work with the Forest Park Barking Lot volunteers—we advocate for the needs of the dog park, lead cleanups, and organize community events. It is truly a dogtastic group to be a part of.

Any meal, prepared by anyone, what would it be?
My late grandma’s pierogi and her raspberry tarts. My cooking and baking skills are quite elementary, but I hope to be able to make these dishes myself someday.

What might people be surprised to know about you?
I practice various martial arts and I play catcher on Juilliard’s softball team—go Penguins! To many individuals’ amusement (including my own), my softball jersey number is “IX.”

What are you reading/listening to/watching?
I’m reading Master and Margarita for my fiction fix. In nonfiction, I’m reading articles from the Yale Law Journal and Stanford Law Review’s joint #MeToo Symposium, which explore sexual harassment in relation to many topics, including race, sexual orientation, retaliation, and employment law. I’ve been listening to season three of the Serial podcast and am a public radio junkie. On TV, I just finished season two of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel; I can’t wait for the final season of Game of Thrones; and I enjoy police procedurals. The most recent film I saw was Cold War, which I highly recommend.

What question do you always get asked?
I often get asked “Where are you from?” at Juilliard. That’s a pretty standard question in our international community, but I also think people get thrown off by my Queens accent, which emerges occasionally. It used to be very heavy, but lightened up after a year of diction coaching that was part of my high school theater activities.

What question do you wish you’d get asked?
How can society prevent power-based personal violence? #MeToo has brought a lot of attention to how people and institutions respond to allegations of power-based personal violence. Prevention is often overlooked but remains critical.

What are your top three pieces of advice for Juilliard students?
Engage in self-care today, tomorrow, and every day. It will sustain your body, mind, and soul. While it’s so easy to forget about or put off, no one else will prioritize this for you. Habits are hard to make and break, but regular self-care is absolutely worth it.

What do you wish people knew about Title IX services at Juilliard?
Here are four highlights from Title IX 101 training that I hope everyone remembers and can remind others of:

• Juilliard’s Title IX Office provides 3 Rs: Resources, Reporting options, and Rights.
• There is no time limit for making a report.
• In collaboration with many campus and community partners, Juilliard’s Title IX Office offers ongoing prevention and education initiatives.
• We encourage feedback and questions from all community members.

Is there anything you’d like to add?
Feedback and dialogue are incredibly important for Title IX. I look forward to more conversations and collaboration with community members as we increase our services, strengthen our processes, and get the word out that we are here to serve you all.

Learn more about Title IX at Juilliard.