Past Statements

Dear Students, Staff, and Faculty of the Jacobs School of Music,

First, my heart goes out to Asian and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students, staff, and faculty after yesterday’s mass shooting that killed 8 people including 6 Asian women in Acworth and Atlanta, Georgia. White supremacist  and gender-based violence is abhorrent and has no place in our society, our campus, or our school. I stand with you in solidarity against white supremacist violence, terrorism and anti-Asian hate. If you need support, a listening ear, or resources please don’t hesitate to schedule time to meet with me. You may email me at watsonsk@indiana.edu to schedule a time to chat.

It is not a secret that anti-Asian violence and bigotry has seen a sharp uptick in the last year, and last night’s tragedy is a stark reminder that we have much work to do. Violence and bigotry against the Asian and AAPI community is not a new phenomenon in the United States, from the 1871 Chinese Massacre, to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, to Executive Order 9066 (Japanese Relocation), the racist ideas of “yellow peril” after World War II, the hyper-sexualization of Southeast Asian women, the exploitation of Filipino farmers in the 1970s, and the countless acts of violence, hatred and bigotry after 9/11, the SARS epidemic and the current coronavirus pandemic. These forms of violence and discrimination has never been acceptable, and we must do all we can to end it.

The Jacobs School of Music would not be what it is without the talents of Asian and AAPI students, faculty and staff. Asian and AAPI students make up 23% of our student population. The Asian and AAPI community has contributed so much the world of music and performing arts, and thus we all have a responsibility to stand up against anti-Asian racism in all its forms. Indiana University Bloomington is committed to anti-racism and in that commitment, we must choose to be antiracist. In doing so we become actively conscious about race and racism and take actions to end racial inequities in our daily lives. Being antiracist is believing that racism is everyone’s problem, and we all have a role to play in stopping it.

As a Black woman, and your Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator, I denounce any and all forms of racism, white supremacy, bigotry, discrimination and anti-Asian sentiment, violence and prejudice. It has no place in the Jacobs School of Music. As Dean Allen shared after the horrific murder of George Floyd, I echo that we, as a school, insist upon justice and equality for Asian and AAPI people as well as other people of color. I too, believe we are made stronger by a culturally diverse faculty, staff, and student body, and we strengthen our commitment to providing equal opportunity for all persons. As your new Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator, I will always strive to welcome, support, and learn from faculty, staff, and students who reflect the gender, racial, and ethnic diversity of our nation.

If you or someone you know has experienced bias, violence, or discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexuality, religion, or other social identity, please report it here. If you do not feel comfortable reporting alone or want support while doing so, I am available to meet with you and walk you through the process. I want to again express my condolences to the AAPI community in the wake of this tragedy. Let this be a sobering reminder that there is much work to be done. To learn more about anti-Asian violence and how you can be a better ally, please visit this link.

“Without community, there is no liberation…but community must not mean a shedding of our differences, nor the pathetic pretense that these differences do not exist.” - Audre Lorde.

Sincerely,

Sachet K. Watson, M.S.

Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator

Statement from Dean Jeremy Allen regarding Anti-Asian Violence

Dear Students, Staff, Faculty, and Friends of the IU Jacobs School of Music,

We are shocked and appalled at yesterday’s violent acts in Acworth and Atlanta, Georgia, in which eight people were murdered. Among the dead are six women of Asian descent. This crime represents only the most recent act of violence in a year of relentless increases in the number and severity of hate crimes perpetrated against the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.

Hate crimes such as this are by definition senseless, and have no place in our communities. We must recognize them for what they are and reject the racism, bigotry, and misogyny at their heart. And we are called upon to address our own community with understanding and compassion and to reaffirm our support for everyone, especially our friends and colleagues who feel the fear and uncertainty that comes with seeing themselves targeted in this way. We must be here for each other.

So let us recommit to our ideals: at the IU Jacobs School of Music, racism and gender-based racism and bigotry, in any form, will not be tolerated. Acts of such should be reported, and will be addressed. If you, or someone you know, has experienced or witnessed bias, violence, or discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexuality, religion, or other social identity, please report it here. Additionally, if you need support, further resources, or to have a meaningful conversation, please reach out to Sachet Watson, Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator. Ms. Watson can be reached via e-mail at watsonsk@indiana.edu.

Our work in the service of making the Jacobs School into the community we want it to be, and know it can be, is a joyful labor in which we all play a part. I hope that we all will take advantage of our opportunities to look inward, to reach out, and to create a culture of inclusion and understanding. 

Sincerely,

Jeremy Allen

David Henry Jacobs Bicentennial Dean (Interim)

Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students of the Jacobs School,

These are trying times. We find our society rent asunder by the senseless, horrific killing of George Floyd and the deplorable violence which has taken the lives of so many people of color throughout our nation’s history. This is compounded by the most serious public health crisis in a century, which disproportionately impacts the black community and has upended our daily lives. As a result, we find our sense of creative and professional identity challenged in ways we perhaps never imagined.

The tragic refrain of violence against Black Americans and other minorities in the United States has been repeated too often in recent memory. We need to take a stand in support of the black community, and denounce the acts of racism, bigotry, and prejudice that destroy all of our lives. 

Let us, then, be absolutely clear about the values that we as an institution and a community uphold. At the Jacobs School of Music, we denounce racism and racial violence of any kind. We insist upon justice and equality for people of color. We believe we are made stronger by a culturally diverse faculty, staff, and student body, and we strengthen our commitment to providing equal opportunity for all persons. We will continually strive to welcome, support, and learn from faculty, staff, and students who reflect the gender, racial, and ethnic diversity of our nation.

These last statements originate in our school’s Diversity Strategic Plan, the document we adopted in 2018 to guide our actions toward diversity, equity, and inclusion for faculty, staff, and students. This strategic plan outlines our goals:

1. to foster a community and academic environment in which musicians, scholars, teachers, staff, and administrators of all races, genders, ethnicities, nationalities, sexual orientations, and religions have support to thrive personally, creatively, and intellectually;
2. to embrace opportunities to cultivate diversity within individual departments, and, in turn, increase discourse about inclusiveness within all fields of music study; and
3. to ensure that the top musicians, scholars, and teachers whom we identify and attract represent the diverse world from which we draw our talent.

And the plan offers a roadmap to achieving these goals. Under its guidance, we have in recent years adopted best practices for the recruitment and retention of faculty from underrepresented minorities, and our efforts have already had a positive impact. We have begun the process of establishing relationships with certain Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and performing arts high schools to recruit students and establish faculty exchanges. We have created a professional staff position for a Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator, who, among other duties, will be charged with addressing the climate of inclusion and equity at the school. (We will share this position with the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design, and will complete the search when the current hiring freeze is lifted.) We have presented performances celebrating diversity as part of our official calendar of events, and we have committed ourselves to increasing the areas of study offered to our students to include the music of cultures outside of Western classical traditions.

The work called for in our Diversity Strategic Plan is extensive and will have a lasting impact on our school. This present moment calls for additional, immediate action, and toward that end our school Diversity and Equity (D&E) Committee is planning a number of events and activities to address the pressing needs the current crisis has laid bare. In the immediate future, we will offer a series of online programs entitled “JSoM Community Conversations,” which will address issues of diversity and equity and offer support and strength through conversations that share unique perspectives. We will also plan and host our second annual Celebrating Diversity competition, which challenges JSoM students to research, learn, and perform music from beyond the western canon. Additional offerings from the D&E Committee are being planned, and we will share more soon.

We know we have not yet reached our goals for diversity, equity, and inclusion at the Jacobs School. We can see the path before us, and we are moving forward. In this moment, when hearts are breaking and voices are rising in protest against yet more violence and oppression against Black Americans, we feel the importance of renewing our commitment to building the kind of world everyone deserves. We all stand together as one.

Jeremy Allen
Eugene O’Brien Bicentennial Executive Associate Dean