Editor’s note: This article was previously published in the March 25 issue, but was soon removed from our website in order to gather more information from the music department and better understand their work on the issue.
This semester, new posters around the Fine Arts Center displayed an initiative name: Musicians Against Sexual Discrimination. The posters advertised a student-led group that would address current student concerns in the music department and work with faculty to establish solutions.
The initiative began with two roommates, sophomore Eli Bettenhausen and senior Avery Hjelm, discussing their experiences with alleged sexual discrimination in the music department. Sexual discrimination, as Bettenhausen describes it, includes sexual misconduct, harassment and exclusionary behavior. The talks became Musicians Against Sexual Discrimination, an initiative focused on educating students, connecting victims to resources and encouraging collaboration between department faculty and students.
“It’s the fact that I’ve been here a little bit longer that you just start to see things pile up,” Hjelm said. “You start to see things as more than just individual cases, but as a department-wide problem.”
As the initiative was adopted as the service project of Sigma Alpha Iota, Drake’s music fraternity for women and nonbinary individuals, organizers began work with campus faculty and the Title IX office to address student concerns.
“Our department is committed to creating an environment of trust and a learning environment where all students feel safe and supported and are dedicated to providing long-term support,” Music department chair Ann Cravero said in an email interview.
Bettenhausen said working against sexual discrimination in college will help musicians in the future.
“We have to set the expectations clearly at the collegiate level and hold collegiate musicians to those expectations in order for them to be good musicians at the professional level,” Bettenhausen said.
Sexual discrimination under Title IX
Sexual discrimination on college campuses is prohibited under federal law, part of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 known as Title IX. Title IX also covers sex-based harassment and sexual violence.
Drake has a policy that requires all non-mandatory reporter faculty and staff to notify the Title IX office when they have reason to believe a student is experiencing or has experienced sexual harassment. From there, Samantha Nordstrom, Drake’s Title IX coordinator, provides outreach and resources for support.
Drake has avenues to address complaints of generalized sexual discrimination through the Code of Student Conduct and a University-wide non-discrimination and discriminatory harassment policy.
Lynne Cornelius, the associate dean of students and director of prevention programs, said that Drake’s Title IX department is driven by complaints by and on behalf of students.
“We are always going to allow the student who has brought the complaint forward to determine how much they want to use the process. We’re never going to force them,” Cornelius said. “Even if the University has an obligation to investigate, the student can still choose not to participate.”
Cornelius added that while students, faculty and staff can bring complaints forward for other people, for action to happen, the involvement of the person affected is necessary.
The music department’s unique structure prompts specialized responses to Title IX concerns. Rehearsal and studio spaces in the department are related to areas of study and audition-based positions.
“I also think there’s an amount of intimacy that happens in those spaces,” Cornelius said. “When you are one of four, or you are one of just a few in a space, there’s just a different dynamic.”
Cravero said in an email interview that neither faculty nor the chair has the ability to remove a student from a course unless the institution directs them to. This also includes ensemble participation within the department of music.
After Hjelm and Bettenhausen approached Nordstrom with concerns regarding sexual discrimination in the music department, Nordstrom coordinated with Cornelius and Cravero to arrange department-wide training.
Programming with faculty and students
The training on March 27, Cravero said, was led by Cornelius and included sections titled “Supporting Students After Sexual Harm Disclosure” and “Supporting Accused Students.” The faculty had the chance to ask questions and have a general discussion about the presentation.
Cravero said that faculty at the event were eager to learn how to best support students and hear their concerns.
“A general sentiment of ‘how can we help?’ or ‘what can we do if we aren’t sure which students are involved’ was expressed at the March 27 meeting, followed by conversation of actionable steps we can take and how best to support students after sexual harm disclosure,” Cravero said. “Many faculty commented that the Title IX educational meeting was very valuable in understanding our role and how best to support students.”
From there, Nordstrom has reduced her direct involvement, though she introduces herself at meetings or events the initiative holds.
“I tend to take a step back from direct association with groups that are proponents of individuals talking about their experiences with harm or otherwise, just in light of wanting to maintain that fairness in our process, make sure that everybody feels comfortable and supported coming to my office,” Nordstrom said.
On the student side, SAI led events. Their annual service projects aim to address Drake’s needs while staying aligned with the national fraternity’s values.
“Our goal is to raise awareness and, ideally, encourage the University to support students in action, not just in words,” said SAI President Kaylee Oxendale in an email interview.
The initiative’s first event was a Paint and Sip on March 3 in Meredith Hall, where students could discuss their sexual discrimination experiences in the department. Cornelius provided informational packets on Title IX, and members of the on-campus sexual assault advocacy group Violence Intervention Partner were present.
“Following the Paint and Sip event, Asc. Dean Cornelius and I met with a group of music students on March 12 in a small setting to again hear from them about their concerns and to ensure the faculty/staff training would align with their desired outcomes,” Cravero said. “My role within that meeting was to listen, support and connect students to resources as appropriate.”
Education outreach event
On March 30, members of the initiative met in Sussman Auditorium for an education outreach event regarding sexual misconduct in the music industry, both at the collegiate and professional levels. The event focused on the link between those two stages.
Cornelius said she admired the initiative for making the link between collegiate and professional experiences clear.
“Students want to feel safe in the spaces that they’re in. And so they are speaking up to currently feel safe, and then also to impact the future of the culture of the music industry,” Cornelius said.
Student initiative members presented research on instances of sexual discrimination and misconduct in the professional and collegiate settings, along with studies on sexual discrimination in the music industry. Members then shared statements, some anonymous, from music department personnel who had experienced sexual discrimination and misconduct in their music careers.
“It feels like we have to stay quiet or risk losing many ties within this community,” one person shared.
Themes of statements included seeing music prioritized above wellbeing, feeling that harassers did not face strong repercussions and a lack of support felt within the music department.
“It pains me deeply to see fellow musicians have to go through judgment from peers, professors and others, all because a person decided to do something that benefits themselves,” shared another person.
The event concluded with a section about resources at Drake, and attendees wrote their hopes for Drake’s music department on pieces of paper. SAI members plan to use the papers to create a musician’s wellness board, connecting students to resources and uniting shared hopes onto one board.
Rachel Gulick, a 2011 Drake alumna and member of the LGBTQ+ alumni board, heard about the event through Bettenhausen.
“An event like this, when I was here, [I] would not have expected from SAI, so I think that speaks volumes in and of itself,” Gulick said.
Next steps
Since the event, Cornelius has provided advice to students, Cravero and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gesine Gerhard about how to move forward.
“How do we build back trust? How do we keep the trust that hasn’t yet been lost? How do we make sure that the department is feeling cared for in a space that students feel like somewhere they want to be and somewhere they want to promote other students to be?” Cornelius listed as questions she has been working to answer.
Cornelius added that when students share experiences of sexual discrimination, faculty and staff should play a believing and supportive role.
“Oftentimes, just as humans, we try to reconcile things and we try to make things make sense,” Cornelius said. “That isn’t always conveyed as care to somebody who has shared something with us.”
SAI is not alone in its work against sexual discrimination in the music department. Drake senior Zander Muntz is a two-time drum major of the Drake University Marching Band and former vice president of Drake’s Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia chapter, a music fraternity for male-presenting individuals. Muntz said that during his time in Drake Sinfonia, the fraternity educated members on the dangers of sexual discrimination and hazing, and also took measures to block entry to potential members whom other music department members had raised concerns about.
“Culturally, I think it’s a big problem that we have where there is a lot of misogyny that is seeped into the way that the department handles itself,” Muntz said.
Cravero said that music department faculty and staff are working to be mindful of students’ well-being by “listening, supporting, connecting students to resources, leading with neutrality and care, maintaining required privacy and confidentiality, and focusing on our department and University missions.”
Cornelius encouraged members of the department to create a working group between students, staff and faculty to build an understanding of how the department should move forward with student concerns.
“One of the big things from the students I’ve heard from is that the music department is unique, and so we want unique understanding and unique remedies and unique things that are tailored to us,” Cornelius said. “So if Samantha [Nordstrom] and I came in and we’re like — do this, this and this, that doesn’t create a commitment within what they’re doing.”
Bettenhausen and Hjelm have explored several options for the initiative’s future, including expanding to address all forms of discrimination within the music department. A general support group for music students held by initiative and SAI members will be available for the rest of the semester.
“We hope this group will create stronger bonds amongst Drake music students and connect individuals with immediate and accessible resources when they are needed,” Bettenhausen said.
