Secret Keeper

Trust is earned. Eastman hasn't done it.

The rep for my recital today is all about whispers and secrets. I did a small project asking people to submit a "secret" that we could hand out to audience members as they arrived.

I set up stations around Eastman, U of R, ROCO, Spot Cowork, The Little Theatre, and others. I said the secrets would be reviewed for appropriate content before we handed them out at the concert. I told Eastman exactly what I would be screening out, and they seemed to think my standards were acceptable.

But - they wanted to officially review all the secrets first. I offered to have a faculty member review them with me and sign off. Nope. Eastman wanted official review.

I didn't feel good about that. Secrets are based on trust, trust is earned, and Eastman hasn't earned anybody's trust. The stories of abuse and harassment just keep coming - including a recently published article by Riya Misra about decades of harassment by Bill Ver Meulen, who taught at Eastman in addition to Rice.

The university's investigation into Neil Varon's behavior - which I wasted nearly a year reporting - found that he violated the university's policies and that Eastman grossly mishandled the case.

Four semesters later, U of R has opened a *second* investigation into the school's continued mishandling of the situation under Kate Sheeran. The university initiated the investigation - I didn't ask for it. But I told U of R that - with a broken reporting process in an environment prone to abuse - Eastman is not a safe place for students.

I've seen a lot of the secrets. Some are delicious. Some are hilarious. Some are inspiring. Some are sad. Some are a little inappropriate. (Looking at you, low brass.) Some are a LOT inappropriate.

But they're all a little piece of humanity, and you only get that with some trust and safety. So, no. I'm not handing them over to Eastman for review. Screenshots below of my communications with the school's leadership on that.

I asked my wife to tape all of the secrets - sealed in envelopes - to the cover of the scores I'm using tonight. Not censored. Not screened by administrators who are more interested in protecting their institution than their students.

No. I'm keeping the secrets safe with me.