The Systemic Abuse of Power in Collegiate Music Programs: Tools to Fix an Antiquated and Broken System
This year MIC is launched a seminar for current students, prospective students, parents, professionals, faculty, administrators, and anyone else that would like to attend. Our goal is to give students, prospective students, and professionals more information on how the power dynamics in collegiate programs allow for abuse of power, red flags to look for, and what to expect with various reporting processes both internal to organizations and external. Parents and students have the power to impact the way collegiate music programs run. We hope to empower them to ask the right questions and advocate for change.
We also hope this will provide more resources for administration and faculty to talk about these issues.Our hope is that by starting these conversations and creating accessible resources, more schools will have these conversations and more musicians will know what systems are in place to protect them, how to report, will report with less fear, and will be able to better support each other.
We recorded the session and have hem available on our website along with resources to have these discussions at your collegiate music program. This will also be used to inform our discussion with the universities that attend our annual conference about what systemic change needs to take place to better protect students.
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization. RAINN created and operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline (800.656.HOPE, online.rainn.org y rainn.org/es) in partnership with more than 1,000 local sexual assault service providers across the country and operates the DoD Safe Helpline for the Department of Defense. RAINN also carries out programs to prevent sexual violence, help survivors, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice.
Molly O’Malley, Speaker
Senior Solutions Specialist at Grand River Solutions
Molly O’Malley is a Senior Solutions Specialist at Grand River Solutions. Molly has a background in Title IX, EEO investigations, hiring processes, student conduct, diversity equity & inclusion, and student housing.
Molly has more than 10 years of experience working in higher education at private and public institutions and 5 years of experience in primary education. Prior to joining Grand River Solutions, Molly was the Associate Director of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion & Title IX Coordinator at Northeast Ohio Medical University where she oversaw student and employee DEI efforts including recruitment and retainment, coordinated the Title IX processes, implemented case management software, and conducted EEO investigations. Prior to that, Molly was the Associate Director of EEO, Title IX, and Policy Development at Youngstown State University where she oversaw policy development and review, compliance reports including Affirmative Action, and the Title IX processes.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Youngstown State University and a Master’s in Higher Education Leadership from Walden University.
Molly resides in her native Northeast, Ohio with her partner and son and two dogs.
Alma Ramos, Speaker
DEI Specialist | Project Manager
Alma (she/hers) is a DEIB Consultant, coach, and founder of the company Full Bloom. A passionate advocate for anti-racism, diversity, equity, and inclusion, her work is dedicated to creating more equitable spaces for marginalized communities. She offers programming and guidance on how to increase retention of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) within organizational settings and how to cultivate continuous learning opportunities to best support individuals with an intersectionality lens. She has facilitated and led multiple workshops focusing on how to create more equitable and inclusive workplace and organizational environments. Her background in counseling, music education, and DEI allows her to honor varying experiences and diversity in every audience.
Nora Segura-Barpal, Facilitator
Music Inclusion Coalition, Executive Director | Co-Founder
Nora Segura-Barpal earned a Bachelor of Music in performance in 2018. As much as she loved performing, she found her place in the industry when she began taking music entrepreneurship classes during her undergrad.
She holds a Master of Arts in Performing Arts Administration from New York University. During her time in New York she worked at the NYC Department of Education in the Arts & Special Projects Office and Concord Theatricals. After graduating, she co-founded the Music Inclusion Coalition (MIC) in order to address inequities in collegiate music programs. In May 2021 she moved to San Francisco. She is currently the Director of Philanthropic Engagement at Ronald McDonald House Bay Area. Previously, she was a Major Gift Officer for the San Francisco Symphony.
Nora has led 3 national conferences on equity & inclusion in collegiate music programs with cohorts including Yale College of Music, Colburn Conservatory, The Juilliard School, and more. Click here for more information on those conferences.