O' LJN I\trRS ITYoITENN ESSEE ffifl KNOXVILLE Cffice of the Chancellor 527 Andy Holt Tower Knoxville, TN 37919 865-97 4-326s October L4,2013 Dr. Gary Sousa Director of Bands Professor of Music 227 Natalie L. Haslam Music Center L741 Volunteer Blvd. CAMPUS Dear Dr. Sousa: l of October 8,2At3, your letter dated October was delivered to my office. Your letter described recent changes in SEC rules as "the end of one of the great educational traditions" at our University. You also gave print and on-camera media interviews criticizing the athletics department, describing a "bitter battle" with athletics, and insisting that I should help you "come to a resolution" in your conflict with the athletics department. Not only did you take these actions before I had a chance to review your letter, I am not aware of any meeting request from you or any opportunity to talk with you substantively in the past two years or more. To suggest that I have not been responsive to your concerns is absurd, and I will not reward your unprofessional behavior by taking up your substantive complaints now. Be clear, however, that if you repeat your recent actions, I will not respond with this same restraint. On the afternoon Regarding your complaints about being disrespected, I expect that as a tenured faculty member and experienced administrator, you would have the judgment and fortitude to resolve normal work-related conflicts within the proper channels. You report to the Director of the School of Music, who reports to the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who reports to the Provost, who reports to me. You should have engaged these experienced professionals before bringing complaints to my office. Some of the statements about the plight of the band that you have made or endorsed are misleading, at best. In addition to working through the proper channels, I expect a tenured faculty member to be scrupulously accurate when making public statements about this University. As an educator, you should not only set a positive example for students, but also counsel them to avoid making inaccurate statements that may cause them embarrassment or subject them to public ridicule. I am troubled that you revoked your own internal policy designed to protect your band students from media scrutiny. I whole-heartedly support the right of students to get engaged, and to advocate for a cause about which they are passionate. But I am troubled that you may have allowed students to make inaccurate or misleading statements in the service of your personal conflicts with colleagues. Bsg Orangje" Eng [e]cas. Finally, your media statements demanding my involvement, implying that my failure to do so would suggest I am not an advocate of the band, or an effective leader more generally are counterproductive. You will not earn my support through threats, petulance, public disruption, or whining. You are a professional band director and a tenured faculty member; please act like it. I have copied the administrators in your supervisory reporting line -Dr. pappas, Dr. Lee, and Dr. Martin. ln turn, I expect them to hold you accountable for the unprofessional and disruptive hysteria you have fomented in the past week. lf you raise your concerns through the proper channels, in a professional manner, you can rest assured that your concerns will be heard. ncerely, Cc: Susan Martin Theresa Lee Jeff Pappas