As a former member of the Board of Trust at Watkins College of Art, I am gravely concerned for the future of the students and faculty of the school. I had the privilege of serving on the Board for 16 years, during the leadership of Presidents Jim Brooks, Ellen Meyer, and J. Klein. During my early years on the Board, I watched the school grow into a nationally recognized, highly credentialed institution filled with outstanding faculty and students who earned numerous prestigious awards in a number of disciplines. Unfortunately, during the time J. Klein was at the helm of the institution, the growth ceased and the school began to enter a declining slide, financially and in every other way. 

Due to money being spent frivolously, in my opinion, and a decline in enrollment the school went into a dramatic slide. A person with no experience in enrollment, Alison Miyauchi, was hired to handle enrollment and at J. Klein’s wishes, she was appointed a Vice President. (One of the problems with this, where I was concerned, was Alison and J. were in a romantic relationship and she was a direct report to him. That was much against business management principles.)  Later, longtime administrators, the Vice President of Academic Affairs and the Vice President of Finance, retired due to untenable work environments, created by J., although that was not the official reason for their retirements.

There was a time where transparency was the norm between the President of Watkins and the entire Board of Trust, not just with the three Commissioners and the Executive Committee. Unfortunately, this transparency practice changed during J’s tenure. The decisions concerning the management of the school started being made by the Commissioners and the Executive Committee, with the expectation that the entire Board of Trust would rubber-stamp all of these decisions. That didn’t happen when it came to voting on J’s contract renewal. Those who voted against the contract extension were unexpectedly removed from the Board when the renewal of their terms of service revolved.

I resigned from the Board of Trust in the summer of 2018, when the surprise removals began to happen. My personal ethics could no longer permit me to be a part of an organization that was being run in such a manner.  Also, I am sure the only reason I was not removed from the Board then was my term was not set to revolve at that point in time.

Enough about past history! As I said, I am gravely concerned with the current events and the future of Watkins College of Art. Belmont University is an excellent institution of higher education. As a longtime resident of Nashville, I have watched Belmont grow from a small Women’s School, to a small Baptist College and now it is a much larger Christian University. The current president, Dr. Bob Fisher, is an outstanding leader and has lead the growth and transition of this school in a remarkable manner. I admire what he has accomplished, however, in my opinion, a merger with Belmont University will mean the complete destruction of Watkins College of Art.

For years Watkins has shone as an independent College of Art, creating the ability of the students to thrive in an environment of growth and expression such an institution offers for the nurture and development of the creative talent they each possess. A Christian institution will squelch this creatively nurturing environment, not to mention the fact that the lack of respect for the independent thoughts of the students, the lack of respect for the LGBTQ+ students and the non-Christian beliefs of some of the students and faculty are neither accepted nor welcomed, in the Belmont University environment. 

There is a reason there are independent schools and religious schools.  The value in each disappears when a merger of the two is attempted. Artists need their freedom of expression supported and nurtured, rather than suppressed and squelched. 

I truly hope the Save Watkins organization succeeds in blocking the merger of Belmont University and Watkins College of Art. The world needs the creativity of visual artists and the values of creative thought taught at Watkins College of Art are needed in all areas of life, especially in the world we are currently living in. 

Sincerely,

Dee Doochin

deedoochin@gmail.com