Dear Staff Members of the Eastman School of Music,
Thank you so much for the expressions of interest, support, and encouragement that you have shared with us at the Eastman Action Commission for Racial Justice since we began our work in June.
Many of you have helped us in concrete and specific ways with some of the initiatives we have already undertaken, and we are very grateful to you for all the work you have done to help us distribute faculty surveys, build library resources, and undertake many other projects as well.
If you have had a chance to read our latest update, which came out over email on Tuesday, 28 July, then you will know that the first installment of our report to Dean Rossi is due in August. We hope you noticed that our update included the notice that “We will augment our report with input from the entire Eastman staff once the school year has started.” We are sure you have many questions about what that process will look like, and we would like to answer as many of them as we can think of here. If you have other questions, please just write and let us know!
First, why are we waiting until the fall to reach out to the members of the Eastman staff in our discussions, our surveys, and our interviews? We are seeking to show equal respect to the situations of those who are still on their regular work schedule, those who are on partial furlough, and those who are on full furlough this summer. We are very much looking forward to the end of furloughs, and we are eager for the opportunity this fall to communicate with all staff members at once.
Second, how do we plan to engage with the staff once the fall begins? We plan to spend just as much time working with staff in the fall as we have spent working with students and faculty over the summer. Some of these initiatives will include a survey of the entire staff, interviews with Black staff members, and one or more town hall meetings with ESM staff.
Third, how will we incorporate staff voices into our report in a meaningful way? The report that we file in August will highlight the fact that our report remains incomplete until we can work with the entire staff of the Eastman School of Music. We will start the staff portion of our report shortly after the start of the fall semester. We will present the staff section to Dean Rossi sometime before the start of the spring semester. This will enable all of us to consider the whole report together before an annual review at the end of the spring semester.
Fourth, what can staff members do if they have ideas that they want to share, or questions they want to ask before the fall semester starts? We would be happy to hear your comments, your questions, and your suggestions whenever you would like to send them!
Best wishes to each and all of you, and thank you so much again for all your contributions to the Eastman School of Music and the ongoing work of the Eastman Action Commission for Racial Justice,
Lee Koonce, ‘96E (MM), co-chair
President & Artistic Director, Gateways Music Festival
Senior Advisor to the Dean, Eastman School of Music
lkoonce@esm.rochester.edu
Jean Pedersen, co-chair
Associate Professor, History, Eastman School of Music and
Arts, Science & Engineering, University of Rochester
jpedersen@esm.rochester.edu