Utah State University responds to allegations of harassment made by two former students against piano faculty
Utah State University President Noelle Cockett held a video conference Friday morning with students, faculty and staff to address alleged misconduct by Caine College of the Arts faculty members against former students.
Cockett, who made the video call from California, said the university hired Alan Sullivan, a Salt Lake City-based attorney, to investigate the students’ statements and possible misconduct from the university.
She also ensured if the investigation finds that USU did not act appropriately, changes will be made.
The report from the independent investigation, the president said, will not be given directly to the university but will instead go to the chair of the USU Board of Trustees, Jody Barnett.
Student safety is first priority, the president mentioned.
“First and foremost, I want to tell you about how much I care about your safety, both students and faculty.”
Cockett also commented on the two piano students who shared their experiences separately on Facebook — an act both said was inspired by the #MeToo movement.
“We really appreciate people reaching out and supporting others when they began to share what their experience at Utah State had been,” she said.
Amy Arakelyan, the first of the two to post allegations against the piano area of the music department on Facebook, detailed experiences in which she and her then-boyfriend were mistreated by different faculty members within the section.
“I was just broken,” Arakelyan, a student in the piano department from fall 2003 to fall 2007, told The Utah Statesman on Thursday. “That experience was horrible and it was damaging,” she said.
The Utah Statesman reached out to Whitney Griffith, the second woman to post. However, Griffith was unavailable for comment Friday.
Arakelyan said she received a private message from Griffith after she had seen Arakelyan’s post and she disclosed to Arakelyan about her experience with the USU piano department.
“It’s time for me to share my story about one of the darkest chapters in my life,” Whitney Griffith wrote Tuesday on her Facebook. “While I was at Utah State University in 2009, I was raped by an instructor in the piano department.”
Griffith posted screenshots from her Facebook post on Twitter Wednesday, and the university responded from its official twitter account stating “USU is looking into this, and we encourage anyone with relevant information to contact Title IX at 435-797-1266 or to file a report at http://titleix.usu.edu .”
I posted this on Facebook late last night and am blown away by the support and the number of past USU music majors students now coming forward. #metoo #ustoo pic.twitter.com/RehvZG7ZSy
— Whitney McPhie (@wamcphie) February 14, 2018
The professor accused of sexual assault is no longer working at the university, USU spokesman Tim Vitale told The Statesman Thursday.
“This is being investigated at the highest levels of the university,” said the student liaison for the college, USU Student Association Arts Senator Sierra Wise. “I have the utmost trust that there are individuals who are on this case who have the needs of these students in mind and not administration, and that’s what we need.”
Craig Jessop, dean of the college, told The Statesman Thursday that the college is doing all it can to assist investigators in the situation.
A response from Dr. Cindy Dewey, the Music Department head, was posted to the official Facebook page of the USU Music Department Wednesday.
Representatives from both the USU Sexual Assault and Violence Information office and Counseling and Psychological Services were at Friday’s video conference to provide information about their offices and the services they provide to students.
“It hurts to hear that our students have not been treated in the appropriate manner, and it hurts to think that students feel that USU has not done enough to protect them,” Cockett said.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
The USU Title IX office can be reached at (435) 797-1266
For confidential counseling, the SAAVI and CAPS office are free to students and can be reached at (435)-797-7273 and (435)-797-1012 respectively
—laurenmarie.bennett@aggiemail.usu.edu @laurmarben
—alisonberg28@gmail.com @alison__berg
—carter.moore@aggiemail.usu.edu @carterthegrreat
It should be noted that the piano instructor was employed by the university until last year.
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