A Message From the EDIB Taskforce

Dear students, faculty, and staff,

It has been almost two weeks since the murder of George Floyd. In the wake of this atrocity, we confront the reality that this is far from an isolated incident, but rather, emblematic of a society deeply affected by systemic racism. We stand in solidarity with the Black community, and we are committed to challenging racism in our society and in our school.

Over the past days, our students, faculty, staff, and alumni have been bravely sharing their experiences. We hear the pain, hurt, anger, and frustration. As your Taskforce, we are listening, and we must unite our community to champion this work together. We know that our words of commitment—intended to show support—will ring hollow without action. The following are some of the steps we are taking:

• Inviting active participation from students, alumni, and non-Taskforce faculty and staff and outlining a communication plan to share the work of the Taskforce with the community on a regular basis.
• Developing a broader range of options for reporting and resolution procedures for bias incidents, building upon Juilliard’s existing nondiscrimination and harassment policy and reporting mechanisms.
• Increasing ongoing EDIB and anti-racist training and learning opportunities for students, faculty and staff, building upon Juilliard’s EDIB foundational workshop.

Moving forward, we aim for more communication and transparency across the entire community. In that spirit, we would like to share this review of the Taskforce’s work to date. We are examining our practices and institutional culture through an anti-racist lens, and recognize there is much work to do. We are intensely working throughout this time, and ask that if you want to provide feedback or ask questions, please send comments to [email protected]. We plan to review them at our next meeting and share a summary with the community. Thank you for your dedication to this work.

For a list of suggested readings, please refer to LibGuide developed in collaboration with our colleagues in the Juilliard Library.

To get involved and for additional resources consider visiting the following: Black Lives Matter Foundation, Equal Justice Initiative, Innocence Project, Minnesota Freedom Fund, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

In thoughtful reflection,

EDIB Taskforce

Renée Baron, Liberal Arts Faculty, EDIB Faculty Advisor
Rosalie Contreras, Vice President of Public Affairs
Aaron Flagg, Chair and Associate Director, Jazz Studies
Katie Friis, Administrative Director, Dance Division
José García-León, Dean of Academic Affairs and Assessment
Katie Germana, Director of Human Resources
Alicia Graf Mack, Director of the Dance Division
Adam Meyer, Director, Music Division and Deputy Dean of the College and Provost Designate
Christina Salgado, Director for EDIB Initiatives
Benjamin Sosland, Administrative Director, Historical Performance Program and Assistant Dean for the Kovner Fellowship Program
Weston Sprott, Dean of the Preparatory Division
Marjorie Van Dercook, Strategic Advisor for EDIB Initiatives
Annie Wu, Administrative Assistant in the Office of the President
Jonathan Yaeger, Chair, Music History
Evan Yionoulis, Director of the Drama Division
Brian Zeger, Artistic Director, Vocal Arts