AMS Accountability Archive
Grassroots membership response to a professional society in crisis.
SUMMARY
At the 2025 American Musicological Society meeting in Minneapolis, several crises came to light. Initially, the Program Committee and the Ethics Committee both submitted memoranda to the AMS Council. Immediately afterwards, public statements by committee members and their Chairs revealed broader patterns of conflict that led to resignations from the Accessibility Task Force, AMS 50 Award Subcommittee, Development Committee, Eileen Southern Committee, Paul Pisk Prize Committee, and the Board.
(SEE Archives section for memos and statements)Across all of these crises and resignations, common factors were: overreach by the Executive; lack of transparency by the Board and Executive; and hostile communications by the Executive Director and some Board members.NOTE: this site is a living document! This is maintained by a grassroots network of volunteer AMS members. If you have materials to offer to the Archive, please see the ‘Contact’ page for up-to-date instructions.
ARCHIVES
Memos, Statements, Analysis
STATEMENT: Ethics Committee Chair, Imani Mosley (Facebook)
STATEMENT: Ethics Committee Member, Andrew Dell’Antonio (Facebook)
STATEMENT: Eileen Southern Committee Chair, Candace Bailey (Facebook)
STATEMENT: AMS-50 Subcommittee Chair, Christopher Campo-Bowen (email; archived with permission)
STATEMENT: Paul Pisk Prize Committee Incoming Chair, Andrew J Chung (Facebook)
STATEMENT: Board Member & Accessibility Task Force Chair, Laurie Stras (Facebook)
STATEMENT: Accessibility Task Force Member, Erika Supria Honisch (Facebook)
ANALYSIS: 990 filings by Former AMS Treasurer, Noriko Manabe (Facebook)
ANALYSIS: Follow-up on AMS investments, Noriko Manabe (Facebook)
Governance
AMS Policy documents (AMS site)
AMS Reports (AMS site)
AMS 990 Filings (ProPublica.org)
ACTIONS
What is to be done?
What are people doing?
PETITION: "Petition to Restore Transparent Governance and Accountability in the American Musicological Society” (link to SIGN the petition included in the document)
More to come…stay tuned!
CONTACT
If you have materials to offer to the Archive, please contact a member of the Ethics Committee or Council. Anonymous submissions can also be made to: [email protected]