On Thursday, 18 April 2024, the Institut für Praxisforschung und Projektberatung (IPP, Institute for Practice Research and Project Consulting) presented the results of the scientific study »Abuse of power, discrimination and sexualised violence at HMTM«, which our university commissioned in February 2023, at a press conference. The study is the first full survey in the whole of Germany on abuse of power at a music university with a representative claim. Due to our past, it is an urgent obligation for us to create maximum transparency and proactively tackle the prevention of abuse of power, discrimination and sexualised violence.
Prof Lydia Grün, President of HMTM, accepted the final report from IPP München and reacted with determination to continue along the university’s current path and further expand it with extensive measures. She presented a 7-point plan of the HMTM, which responds to the results of the study with numerous measures in seven fields of action. The fields of action are: Responsibility, Structures, Young Students, Body, Mind and Health, internationals@home, Internal Communication and Remembering and Learning.
Prof Lydia Grün:
»We clearly see and recognise that there are structures that encourage the abuse of power. Abuse of power, discrimination and sexualised violence are not issues of the past at our university. The fact that people are still suffering and experiencing stressful situations is alarming and deeply concerning. We deeply regret this!
Together with all members of the university, we want to develop the strength to make HMTM a safe and respectful place in the long term. One thing in particular arises for us from this review: responsibility.
Responsibility for our structures: Based on the results of the study, we will analyse, change and expand our structures and processes in seven different fields of action.
Responsibility for de-tabooing and transparency: We want to clearly state where the boundaries are. Only if all current and former members of the university can talk about abuse of power will we be able to establish security and trust.
Responsibility for clear and consistent complaints procedures: We investigate every complaint in dialogue with those affected. At this point, I would like to encourage all members of the university: Contact our counselling centres and seek advice in a confidential setting.
Responsibility for remembering and learning: We continue to clearly state what happened and learn from the past. We therefore engage in an open dialogue with all members of the university about the study results and our measures. On behalf of the university, I would like to apologise to those who have suffered at our university.
We are fully aware of our responsibility and are doing everything we can to ensure that students, teaching staff and administrative employees can feel safe at our university.«
The HMTM student council,represented by Felix Starzonek:
»As the HMTM student council, we hope that the results of the IPP München study, which identify abuse of power as a structural problem at our university, will have a signalling effect. The non-academic survey of students at all German-speaking music universities, the results of which have already been discussed in the media in recent weeks, has painted a similar picture for the entire university landscape. It is time for the conservatoires as a whole to take consistent action. A study environment must be created that does not continue to tolerate and reproduce old structures, but instead makes the world of music an open and respectful space, starting with the universities. As student representatives, we look forward to further intensifying this process of change at HMTM and playing our part in it.«
HMTM commissioned the study, supported by the Bavarian State Ministry of Science and the Arts, from IPP München in February 2023 to record the current status of students’, teaching staff’s and university administration employees’ experiences of abuse of power, discrimination and sexualised violence.
Further information (in German):
IPP München website: https://www.ipp-muenchen.de/publikationen/abschlussbericht-hmtm/
Link to the press conference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujIKfHqPNrc
