PETITION FOR THE REMOVAL OF UIUC DIRECTOR OF ORCHESTRAS
Join the 1000+ voices
who have signed our petition!
The UIUC Director of Orchestras, Dr. Carolyn Watson, was hired on two years ago and immediately given tenure. Since then, her students and TAs have experienced abuse, intimidation, and retaliation at her hand. For over a year, multiple students have tried to go through university channels to correct this abusive behavior, including Title IX, HR, OAE (Office of Access and Equity), and two School of Music Directors.
After a year, these patterns of behavior have only continued, forcing the student body to take action and demand change. We started a petition for her removal, and got over 500 signatures in our first week, including 83% of enrolled orchestra members!
We delivered that petition to the Dean of Fine and Applied Arts on Tuesday, April 30, and will be meeting with him before the end of his term to negotiate our demands. Until then, we welcome anybody to join us in signing the petition and share their experiences with Dr. Watson below.
Context to The Petition
Disrespect for Student Feedback: Dr. Watson has repeatedly dismissed and disrespected student feedback and has used her power as a conductor to humiliate and intimidate students who disagree with her musical interpretations or program decisions.
Exploitation of TA Labor: Dr. Watson has consistently failed to adequately prepare or do the necessary work to effectively run her programs, forcing her TAs to pick up her slack and work 40+ hours a week on top of their academics. Labor grievances have been filed through GEO (Graduate Employee's Organization).
Academic and Professional Retaliation: Dr. Watson has responded to TAs and administration who disagree with her by retaliating against them both academically and professionally. This includes unfair grading practices and semester reviews, and comments made to prospective students and colleagues framing her TAs as bad students and difficult to work with.
Intimidation and Retaliation Against Administration: Dr. Watson is currently taking action against one of our school of music directors for standing up for us and working with us to try and correct this situation. Dr. Watson had made a similar move at her previous place of employment, the University of Kansas.
Meetings with the Dean
On April 30, 2024, orchestra musicians, along with other School of Music students, staff, and faculty, marched to deliver a petition with over 500 signatures collected in one week to Dean Hamilton. On May 8, UIUC Musicians for a Better Orchestra, along with labor representatives from the Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO), met with Kevin Hamilton, Dean of the School of Fine and Applied Arts (FAA), and other leaders across the FAA. During the meeting, a list of demands was shared with the FAA administration as well as consequences if these demands were not met. Dean Hamilton and his administration reviewed the petition and supplemental material presented and requested a follow-up meeting to occur after five business days on Tuesday, May 14. In this meeting, Dean Hamilton provided further information on university due process and grievance offices, but was not able to meet any of the students’ demands.
Out campaign has asked for bi-weekly updates from the School of Music administration as the FAA ushers in a new dean.
Why attend future meetings?:
Solidarity! The more people in the room the less likely the speakers and others will face retaliation.
We want your input during the meeting. We can call a caucus during the meeting and ask people what they think and what to do going forward. This is a collective campaign and everyone’s voice is important.
It shows power! We are much more likely to get our demands if admin sees we are taking this meeting seriously and many people are involved.
University of Illinois
Reporting Mechanisms and Contacts
UI Reporting.pdf
