The undersigned faculty and staff of the Butler School of Music are extremely alarmed by the Campus Carry law passed by the Texas Legislature and oppose the presence of concealed firearms in our classrooms, offices, social spaces, and concert halls. We consider this law to be an existential threat to our core mission of “making profound contributions to the future of music” and preparing “students for productive careers as performers, teachers, composers and scholars, and for satisfying lives as informed and responsible members of a democratic society.” Guns on campus are a direct threat to the freedom of speech which is a fundamental cornerstone of academic discourse; the atmosphere of fear derived from the presence of guns directly conflicts with UT’s mandate for “creating a community working together to solve challenges facing society, blending research and discovery with learning.”
None of us believes that allowing more guns into our facilities will increase the safety of our faculty, students or staff; on the contrary, this legislation puts at risk hundreds of UT students present in our building on any given day. Moreover, our school also functions as a major community outreach resource. Carrying concealed weapons creates physical and psychological risks for the many children who are taking lessons in our building on a daily basis basis (two nationally recognized outreach programs, the Piano Project and the String Project, have about 300 students regularly enrolled every semester) and to high school students who attend the events of the University Interscholastic League (UIL). Since the announcement of the law, some community outreach events have been cancelled due to perceived risk. With its more than 600 annual concerts and other public events that are attended by hundreds of people from around Austin and beyond, we cannot entrust security to anyone other than trained officers of the peace.
1) Donnie Ray Albert, Senior Lecturer
2) Gregory Allen, Professor
3) Byron Almén, Associate Professor
4) Elliott Antokoletz, Professor; Alice Mackie Scott Tacquard Endowed Centennial Chair
5) Charles Ball, Head Piano Technician
6) JJ Barrera, Specialist – Conjunto
7) Sarah Borshard, Assistant Director, Admissions
8) James Buhler, Associate Professor
9) Carlos Capra, Lecturer
10) B. Glenn Chandler, Professor; Fellow to the Effie Marie Cain Regents Chair in Fine Arts
11) Kevin Crook, Executive Assistant
12) Charlotte Daniel, Program Assistant
13) Andrew Dell’Antonio, University Distinguished Teaching Professor
14) Robert DeSimone, Professor
15) Chuck Dillard, Lecturer
16) Dennis Dotson, Specialist – Jazz
17) Eric A. Drott, Associate Professor
18) Veit Erlmann, Professor; Endowed Chair of Music History
19) Jeff Farris, Piano Technician
20) William Fedkenheuer, Senior Lecturer
21) John Fremgen, Associate Professor
22) Marianne Gedigian, Professor
23) Sophia Gilmson, Associate Professor
24) Joshua Gindele, Senior Lecturer
25) Donald Grantham, Frank C. Erwin, Jr. Centennial Professor of Music
26) Jeffrey M. Grimes, Graduate Program Coordinator
27) Anne Hall, Administrative Associate
28) Robert Hatten, Professor
29) Jeffrey Hellmer, Professor
30) Martha Hilley, Professor; Director of undergraduate studies
31) Adam Holzman, Professor
32) Patrick Hughes, Associate Professor
33) Rastko Jakovljevic, Visiting Professor, Harrington Fellow
34) Judith Jellison, Mary D. Bold Regents Professor; University Distinguished Teaching
Professor
35) Kristin Wolfe Jensen, Professor
36) Jerry Junkin, Vincent R. and Jane D. DiNino Chair; University Distinguished Teaching Professor
37) Joanna Kaminski, Assistant to the Director
38) Ryan Kelly, Lecturer
39) Kelly Kuo, Lecturer
40) Sonja Larson, Scheduling Assistant
41) Delaine Leonard, Senior Lecturer
42) Brian Lewis,Professor; David and Mary Winton Green Chair
43) Matthias Maierhofer, Assistant Professor
44) Hunter Marsh, Professor Emeritus
45) Eric Mellenbruch, Lecturer
46) John Mills, Associate Professor
47) Robin Moore, Professor
48) Raine Munkens, Development Associate
49) Luisa Nardini, Associate Professor
50) Guido Olivieri, Senior Lecturer
51) Stephen Page, Assistant Professor
52) Suzanne M. Pence, Associate Professor 53) Bruce Pennycook, Professor
54) Russell Pinkston, Professor
55) Mary Ellen Poole, Professor
56) Gary Powell, Senior Lecturer
57) David Renner, Associate Professor
58) Linn Roath, Assistant Piano Technician
59) Rick Rowley, Senior Lecturer
60) Wayne Salzmann II, Specialist – Jazz
61) Tamara Sanikidze, Lecturer
62) Ray Sasaki, Professor; Frank C. Erwin Centennial Professorship
63) Laurie Scott, Associate Professor
64) Sonia Seeman, Associate Professor
65) Daniel Seriff, Graduate Admission and Community Outreach Coordinator
66) Yevgeniy Sharlat, Associate Professor
67) Frank Simon, Technical Services Manager
68) Stephen Slawek, Professor
69) David Small, Associate Professor
70) Claire Spera, Publicity Coordinator
71) Page Stephens, Operations Manager
72) Bion Tsang, Professor of Cello
73) John Turci-Escobar, Assistant Professor
74) Michael C. Tusa, Professor
75) Colette Valentine, Lecturer
76) Charles Villarrubia, Associate Professor
77) Dan Welcher, Professor
78) Andrew West, Director of Development
79) Marianne Wheeldon, Associate Professor
80) Darlene Wiley, Professor
81) Timothy Woolsey, Lecturer
82) Stephen Wray, Senior Administrative Associate
83) Tony Zapata, Finance Manager
84) DaXun Zhang, Associate Professor