Monday, May 6, 2019
IDS Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
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“And he responded laughing hysterically, because he had power, and this was his game.” Jacobs School of Music student Bryan Bailey in a report detailing David Jang’s reponse when Bailey pushed him away after unwanted touching
A graduate student was suspended after allegations of sexual misconduct. Students say they felt he held his power over their heads. By Lydia Gerike lgerike@iu.edu | @lydiagerike
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avid Jang, a graduate conducting student, was suspended from IU for a year in February after students accused him of abuses of power, including sexual misconduct toward male students. Jang, who is 25 according to his Facebook page, managed the Jacobs School of Music’s paid Conductors Orchestra and also conducted the all-campus string orchestra, a class for non-music majors. More than 20 people filed misconduct reports against Jang through the Office of Student Conduct, students said. Some students allege they either witnessed or experienced Jang touch, grope or kiss male students without their consent. Before the allegations were reported, as rumors of Jang’s inappropriate actions began to spread, students say they became an open secret. Ten students talked to the Indiana Daily Student for different aspects of this article, including some who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation from Jang or the music world. About a dozen people testified in person against Jang at a Feb. 22 misconduct hearing, students who were there estimate. Some testified over the phone if they were at auditions or had already graduated. Records regarding Jang’s alleged misconduct are kept private, according to university policy. Third parties such as the IDS do not have access to IU student disciplinary records. The Office of Student Conduct filed three reports with the IU Police Department that included allegations of stalking, battery and on-campus harassment. IUPD issued Jang a trespass warning, barring him from any IU property statewide from Feb. 1, 2019, through Feb. 1, 2020. The trespass warning report also confirms he was suspended. Jang’s Facebook says he started at IU in 2015. He is not currently a student, IU spokesperson Chuck Carney said. Jang is listed in the IU Directory as “Former Employee, Student.” Paul Newman, professor emeritus and Jang’s faculty adviser who
was at the hearing, said during an interview Tuesday he doesn’t know whether or not the claims against Jang are true because he wasn’t there to witness any of them. However, Newman said Jang didn’t have the power students claim he did, and those who came forward did so possibly because they were jealous of Jang’s talent. To Newman, it seemed IU had already decided Jang had committed the alleged offenses before a hearing could even take place because he was given a summary suspension. A summary suspension allows IU to remove a student from campus without following normal misconduct procedures if they decide the student is a “serious threat” to IU-related people or property. “He was suspended because he was a danger to the IU community, and that seems ludicrous,” Newman said. Newman said Jang filed a written appeal after his suspension was upheld following the hearing, which IU policy says is standard appeal procedure. The appeal was rejected by the Provost. Jang, through Newman, declined to be interviewed for this story. * * * The classical music world is small and competitive. Students said recommendations and job prospects sometimes rely on relationships with others who can vouch for them. This makes it easy for those in power to manipulate others, students said, and Jang’s friendship and connections felt like they could make or break a career. Jang also had money and social influence, the students said. They noticed his nice clothes, and he drove a BMW with the license plate “JANGBUS.” Public records indicate he is from California. In the summers, he would travel to music festivals to hang out with other talented, connected musicians. Students said Jang would throw and attend parties where the flow of alcohol never seemed to end. There, many said they witnessed him touching people
whose consent was questionable, and Jang would sometimes later blame the alcohol for his actions. Jang used his power to take advantage of undergraduates who were scared of Jang and didn’t know how to make him stop, they said. For years, they stayed quiet, partly out of fear that Jang could ruin their careers both at the university and in the professional world. Students told the IDS they are speaking out now because they are concerned Jang could continue to abuse power or harm other musicians if he were offered a position somewhere else. They believe music school faculty remained largely unaware of the situation and at least some still don’t know what happened. IU policy states that under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, faculty must have a “legitimate educational interest” in a student to have access to any official information. Other people who were contacted through friends or directly by the IDS said they did not want to talk for fear Jang would sue them, harass them or keep them from getting jobs. They also said they are afraid others in the music industry will blacklist them or pinpoint them as troublemakers. Fresh in the institutional memory of the music school is another high-profile case in which a ballet lecturer, Guoping Wang, was arrested for the sexual assault of a dancer. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in 2017 and is serving probation. In that case, the dancer waited until after “The Nutcracker” performances were over to report the assault, highlighting a complicated intersection of performance, academics, collaboration, image and power. Instrumentalists face similar complexities. But those who have come forward about Jang said telling their stories is long past due. * * * Bryan Bailey, a senior double bass performance major, testified before a panel as part of the sexual misconduct hearing process about Jang’s alleged unwanted touching. SEE SECRET, PAGE 3 ILLUSTRATION BY ANNIE AGUIAR | IDS
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JANG’S ALLEGED SEXUAL MISCONDUCT WAS REPORTED TO IUPD THREE TIMES The Office of Student Conduct reported three instances of Jang’s alleged misconduct to IUPD. One account was said to have happened in the Musical Arts Center. A supplement case report details Jang’s trespass warning and suspension notice from IU. SOURCE INDIANA UNIVERSITY POLICE DEPARTMENT
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