As Brandeis moves through “headwinds” facing higher education, the university administration has made several budget cuts. Recently, these cuts have landed upon the Music Department. The university cut the Musicology PhD program just last year and now has declined to renew the contract of Assistant Professor of Music Taylor Ackley.
Professor Ackley describes himself as “a specialist in American popular music whose work is largely concerned with centering the art and ideas of marginalized folks in academic discussions.” He added that he teaches “classes that allow students to think critically through complicated questions about artistry, identity, and politics in both historical and contemporary contexts. Popular music studies is superlative in the way it facilitates discussions about really important topics like immigration, race, gender, indigeneity, class, and sexuality through examining art that many of us are already familiar with.” He added that he specializes particularly in “the intersection of music and social class,” trying to be especially open about his “experiences of things like childhood homelessness as well as [his] family history of crime, sex work and working-class toil. These things are central to the story of America and its music, but there aren’t many people who can talk about them so directly. [He has] found that when he shares … where [he is] from, it can create a space where students are much more open about their own backgrounds.” He added that “We all benefit when we learn from each other.”
The Hoot spoke with Ackley, who noted that he is “one of about two dozen faculty on an OTS (outside tenure structure) contract who is not being considered for reappointment. While the process has been anything but transparent [he] knows that this decision was made without consulting with [his] department chair or anyone else in the different programs and departments [he is] involved with—and in fact goes absolutely contrary to what they hope for.” He added that, as far as he knows, the decision to not renew his contract was made “strictly based on the type of contract [he has], not based on [his] value to the university, [his] work as a scholar and artist, or [his] role as an ambassador for Brandeis in the community.”
The Hoot confirmed this with Music Department Chair and Victor and Gwendolyn Beinfield Professor of Music Yu-Hui Chang, who added that “the cutting of arts programs sends the wrong message to students and to the public, a message that arts don’t matter at Brandeis. This is a direct contradiction to the University’s values and its history. It also works against the school’s goal to improve the students’ living learning community.” She added that “not having Professor Taylor Ackley is another big loss for the Music Department, as his courses are hugely popular, benefitting numerous students across campus. The combination of these cuts [the cut of Prof. Ackley and the cut of the Lydian String Quartet, which is covered in a separate article] leads to a 25% faculty reduction in the Department of Music, the ramifications of which no department should be forced to face.”
Ackley noted that he’s “not sure what is being considered in cutting [his] position other than the university saving a small amount of money—less than a single student pays to go here for a year.” To him, he added, “this is important considering [his] two classes this semester have 185 enrolled students.” He also noted that there’s a few key facts the university’s administration may have overlooked in their decision making process. He noted that:
- “My classes are well liked and always fill up, particularly the courses I offer that are open to all Brandeis students. To my knowledge my popular music history course is the single most popular course for students fulfilling the Creative Arts requirement across the entire university.”
- “Brandeis has long valued efforts to build connections across disciplines. I work closely with a number of different programs and departments: Music, American Studies, CAST (Creativity, Arts, and Social Transformation) and starting next semester History. To me this is what a liberal arts institution is all about: each discipline provides a valuable perspective. What does it look like if music get[s] left out of that conversation?”
- “Brandeis’ efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion are most successful when social class is considered. My classes offer what I think is a unique opportunity for students to learn with a person who grew up in poverty and directly draws on that in a relevant way in the classroom. My experience allows me to connect with and advocate for students from marginalized and disadvantaged backgrounds. I work a lot with students from the First Gen and Low Income Network as well as academic support staff and my own department to help make studying music more financially and culturally accessible to all students. I know how it feels to think that college wasn’t made for people like me and I want to continue to help make Brandeis a place where anyone can succeed.”
The Hoot also spoke to CAST’s Undergraduate Advising Head and Associate Professor of English Thomas King, who confirmed that Professor Ackley’s courses are among the most popular arts courses at Brandeis. He also said that, as Brandeis makes more cuts to arts programs “we are definitely moving away from the historical vision of Brandeis, specifically its commitment to social justice. … [that is] enacted through a kind of integration of different ways of knowing and being in the world.” He added that this is “a significant loss, not only in the student experience, but in the reputation of Brandeis as an institution that engage[s] in the world from all these multiple lenses.” Professor King added that “being on the East Coast here in [the] very wealthy state of Massachusetts, we’ve never really had anyone that brings forward the … ways of knowing [of] people who are coming from rural and poor and poor backgrounds.” King noted that Ackley works across many programs, having found spaces in the Music, American Studies and CAST programs, adding that Ackley “is exemplary of that triple focus of CAST: the arts, the humanities and the social sciences, both because of his musical expertise and … [his experience] as a researcher. He really is a scholar.” In closing, King added that “many faculty, including [him]self have been dispirited by the heavy-handed changes to the lives of our administrators [and] teaching faculty outside of the tenure track, and how these changes have been rolled out. Many people have experienced what’s happened to them in their lives as incredibly dehumanizing. Many faculty come to Brandeis precisely because of its social justice mission, [so] these changes have had a widespread effect on the [morale] of the faculty and the staff at Brandeis. We all want to be in solidarity with each other, even though that sometimes puts us … in conflict with the administration at a university we love.”
Paul Weir ’25, one of Professor Ackley’s students and a member of his Roots Ensemble, shared his thoughts on the university’s decision with The Hoot. He noted that “losing Prof. Ackley would be a major loss for both the Music Department and the University at large.” Having studied with Ackley for two semesters, Weir added that he “honestly cannot think of a professor at Brandeis that has had a bigger impact on [his] experience here than Prof. Ackley. Not only were the classes engaging and entertaining, but [he] feel[s] that, in both instances, [he] grew tremendously not just as a musician or a student of music, but as a person.” Weir continued by saying that his “Brandeis experience would have been far worse had [he] not crossed paths with Prof. Ackley, and friends and family from home can tell you that he ranks highly in reasons why [he] would recommend students interested in music to attend the school. It breaks [his] heart that the university continues to dismember a department that means so much to [he] and the students here, with them not renewing Prof. Ackley’s contract as another terrible blow.” He said that “Brandeis would be a far worse place without his scholarship and his teaching,” adding that he “hope[s] the school reconsiders their decision.”
The Hoot also reached out to Brandeis’ administration for comment on Professor Ackley’s contract, and Assistant Vice President of Communications Julie Jette said that “Brandeis has long supported the arts, and music remains an integral part of our liberal arts curriculum. The University is committed to providing excellent academic and co-curricular experiences for our students, with a strong emphasis on teaching and access to research. To maintain that strategic focus, difficult decisions must be made at times related to other activities at the university. However, we cannot discuss individual personnel decisions.”
