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abuse sexual misconductJuilliard takes action following report
Last fall, former IRW intern Sammy Sussman did an investigative story revealing years of sexual assault and harassment allegations dating from the 1990s and 2000s against three members of The Juilliard School’s composition faculty, including their former department chair. IRW and VAN, a leading classical music magazine, co-published the stories. That article was followed by over 500 composers, musicians, educators and arts leaders signing an open letter, published on Medium, to the administration, calling on the Juilliard School to take disciplinary action. Last week, after a six-month investigation prompted by our reporting, Juilliard fired the former department chair and instituted new policies, ranging from banning all romantic and sexual relationships between faculty and students to requiring that all one-on-one classes be conducted on campus. Sussman, who recently completed a master’s degree at Columbia University’s Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism, filed an update for IRW.
Staff updates
Cara Kelly joined us as an editor this summer at IRW. She was previously a national investigative reporter for USA TODAY, where she covered institutional sexual abuse and harassment, including child sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts of America. Last week, she wrote an opinion essay for The Washington Post based on her deep reporting on the decades-long abuse crisis that led to the Boy Scouts’ bankruptcy, and how few investigations have been conducted into the long-standing problem. She’ll continue her work examining Boy Scouts at IRW, and also will take on other accountability and investigative projects.
