• Interlochen Center for the Arts released a report detailing decades of abuse by dozens of faculty and staff members
• The names of those who were accused and are still living were turned over to prosecutors
• Two alumni reported sexual contact with Jeffrey Epstein at the school

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Two years ago, a former student at Interlochen Arts Academy reported instances of sexual misconduct committed in the 1970s by Byron Hanson, a beloved member of the music faculty at the prestigious arts boarding school.

“It was shocking,” said Trey Devey, president of Interlochen Center for the Arts, which oversees the school.

That complaint led Interlochen to commission an independent investigation into conduct by faculty and staff throughout its history. On Tuesday night, Interlochen released the findings to the public.

The 97-page report spells out some 70 instances of sexual misconduct by multiple former faculty and staff spanning seven decades.

“The abuse described in the report is absolutely heartbreaking,” Devey told IPR. “It’s contrary to everything this institution stands for, and we’re grateful to everyone who came forward to share their experiences, and we’re deeply sorry for the harm experienced by members of our community.”

None of the 47 people accused in the report is currently employed by Interlochen. And owing to the amount of time that has passed, about a third of those accused are now dead.

The scope of the report

The investigation was initially focused on the 1960s and 70s. It expanded to all years of the Academy and then to Interlochen’s summer camp programs as more information came forward from alumni.

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“The information gathered during this investigation is, simply, devastating,” the investigators wrote in the opening pages. “Despite the deep and positive connections that many individuals expressed to the Investigative Team regarding Interlochen, some of these same individuals detailed the significant negative impact of the conduct that they reported.”

Interlochen has sent the names of those accused to the Grand Traverse County Prosecutor’s office.

Commissioning the report and expanding its scope along the way “wasn’t really a question” for Interlochen’s board, Devey told IPR on Tuesday afternoon.

“Our students are watching what we do,” he said. “We can do the right thing. We can apologize for the harm that happened here and we can do the right thing by sharing our commitment to get even better as an organization.”

Over the course of two years, investigators from the Sanghavi Law Office, near Boston, conducted 180 phone, Zoom and in-person interviews.

They spoke with with alumni who gave first-hand accounts of abuse and misconduct, and also with former administrators, faculty and staff, as well as family members of alumni.

They also reached out to and heard back from some of the accused — former faculty and staff members who are listed in the report as “respondents.”

The report covers instances from the 1950s through the 2010s, but Devey said the Sanghavi investigators were free to look into all of Interlochen’s history.

“There was no period of time that was blacked out or in any way not subject to this investigation,” he said. “They just happened to receive reports from the 1950s through the 2010s.”

Devey said there have been very few instances reported after the year 2000, and in those instances “the school took responsive action in accordance with our mandated reporting obligations.”

‘Respondent 1’

The report does not identify the majority of respondents who are accused of wrongdoing.

In a letter to the community that prefaces the report, Devey and Interlochen Board Chair Barrett Rollins say this was done “to ensure that our actions in no way undermine the integrity of any law enforcement investigation or action” and to help “protect the privacy of the alumni who participated in the investigation.”

But there are some exceptions.

“Respondent 1” in the report is identified by Interlochen as Byron Hanson, a faculty member from 1960 to 2015. It was an initial complaint about Hanson that led Interlochen’s board to begin this investigation in 2024.

Hanson had a number of roles at Interlochen Arts Academy, including the coveted and powerful position of music director. He retired in 2015 and died in 2021 at age 79.

Interlochen’s annual report that year noted his passing and his prominence within the institution: “An Interlochen legend beloved by countless students, faculty, staff, and alumni, Byron was a direct link to Interlochen founder Dr. Joseph Maddy, who served as his mentor, colleague, and friend.”

A former student at the Academy said Hanson held her hand during a 30-minute drive back to Interlochen from Traverse City and that she “froze.” Another said he purchased alcohol for her and that she went to his house, where they were in bed together and engaging in sexual activity. Other alumni report instances of oral sex, digital penetration and fondling, including in Hanson’s car while parked at remote locations.

A total of seven alumni gave firsthand accounts involving Hanson, spanning the 1960s and 70s.

Interlochen also named three other men accused of sexual conduct with students:

• John “Jack” Hood, a faculty member and administrator from 1963 to 1979, who Interlochen says also held seasonal roles until 2004. He’s in the report as “Respondent 8.”
• Charlie McWhorter, listed as “Respondent 19,” who was a trustee from 1970 to 1999.

Hood and McWhorter are also deceased.

The last person Interlochen named, Thomas Clower, was on the arts faculty from 2003 to 2005. He was convicted of criminal sexual conduct in 2005 after Interlochen reported him to law enforcement and fired him.

Other instances

The bulk of the report, about 60 pages, documents first-hand accounts of sexual misconduct by adults, reported by unnamed alumni, listed as Alum 1, Alum 2, etc., in the report.

Some details are purposefully kept vague — the abuse is assigned to decades instead of to specific years and students’ major courses of study are omitted — to protect the privacy of those reporting the abuses.

But the details of what occurred are explicit. Among the instances:

• An alum from the 1970s said a residence life staff member — “Respondent 10” — fondled her and exposed himself to her in his room. She stated she touched his penis. Residence life staff oversee students in the dorms. Investigators sought out the former staff member who did not respond.
• An alum from the 1980s said an arts faculty member listed as “Respondent 20” had anal intercourse with him with enough force that the alum sought medical attention. He told investigators that when he reported it at the time, an administrator called him a “slut” and that they would tell his parents he was gay unless he left the school quietly. He says an administrator drove him to the airport. Investigators reached out to that former faculty member, who did not respond.
• Another alum from the 1980s said a board member listed as “Respondent 23” followed him into a restroom on campus and performed oral sex on him. This happened again on an out-of-state school trip when the board member invited the student into his hotel room. The former board member is now deceased.
• An alum from the 1990s said an arts faculty member, “Respondent 35,” struck up a friendship with her. She told investigators she was at his house and confided something personal but was worried he would laugh at her. Respondent 35 took the student’s face in his hands and said he wouldn’t. She told investigators she thought he was going to kiss her. After that, she avoided one-on-one meetings with him and said he told her “Remember I am one of the people who controls your scholarship.” Investigators said that the adult is now deceased.

Other examples in the investigation cover a broad spectrum of inappropriate conduct, from uncomfortable hugs, to backrubs, to sexual intercourse.

Changing the culture

Crimes involving sexual assault often go unreported for years after they happen.

That’s because there can be barriers to reporting, said Jennifer Simmons Kaleba, with RAINN, the nation’s largest anti-sexual violence organization. Some people don’t recognize they’ve been assaulted in the moment, she said.

Then there are issues of power dynamics; people who are assaulted can often also be dependent on their perpetrators, for housing, transportation, oversight or livelihood.

“The question really should be ‘What made it so hard for them to come forward sooner?’ and not, ‘Why did they wait?’” said Simmons Kaleba.

Devey, Interlochen’s president, said the on-campus culture is different today.

Students can report problems anonymously online within Interlochen, or bypass the institution entirely through Michigan’s OK2Say anonymous tipline. The OK2Say program takes in tips and routes them to the appropriate authority, including schools, mental health counselors and law enforcement.

Everyone who works at Interlochen is trained that they are a “mandatory reporter,” required by law to report anything involving students that seems amiss.

“Any adult that fails to make a report in a situation like that, there are severe consequences,” Devey said. “I can’t speak to the cultural norms at Interlochen in the 1980s, but I can say there’s a clear difference between the heartbreaking information [in the report] and the Interlochen of today.”

Those reporting mechanisms are good signs, said Simmons Kaleba at RAINN. It’s important that the message is repeated.

“You think about college campuses and the reams of papers or emails that get thrown at you in Week 2 of orientation of your freshman year, and then is it ever talked about again?” Simmons Kaleba said. “It’s about how often you communicate, how often you’re reinforcing those principles. … The more a survivor is able to see around them that this is an environment that encourages and welcomes it, the more likely they are going to be to report.”

Jeffrey Epstein’s presence on campus

Before this report was commissioned, Interlochen had faced scrutiny over its past dealings with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.

Epstein attended camp at Interlochen in the 1960s and was a donor from 1990 to 2003. A lodge was built in his name that he was free to stay in for a couple weeks a year.

After Epstein was first convicted of sex crimes, in 2009, Interlochen investigated his activities on campus and found no evidence he committed crimes at Interlochen. His name was stripped from donor recognition signage and the lodge was renamed. The lodge was torn down in June.

New in this investigation from the Sanghavi Law Office is information about Epstein’s sexual contact with students. Two alumni reported sexual contact with him, five years before his first conviction. One said it happened at Epstein’s lodge on campus.

From the report: “This alum said that during the time she interacted with Epstein and Maxwell at Interlochen, they asked her to Epstein’s lodge on campus, and that while there, Epstein engaged in sexual conduct with her, brushing against her body over her clothes, in a manner in which he indicated was accidental.”

What now? 

Devey said Interlochen delivered the names of those accused of sexual misconduct to the Grand Traverse County Prosecutor’s Office, which will share them with the county sheriff’s office.

Interlochen also says it’s taking a number of steps to address the past harm based on conversations with impacted alumni and what the investigation found.

Interlochen is establishing a dedicated fund to offset counseling costs for those impacted and improving systems for reporting misconduct.

Devey also said Interlochen will look at the public recognition of donors and faculty and remove them where warranted.

He says the campus plans an art installation dedicated to survivors and will facilitate dialogue among those affected.

In the report, some alumni told investigators they hope Interlochen can use the reports to improve. Some said Interlochen remained a positive experience in their past despite what happened. Others said they couldn’t return to campus for fear of running into their abusers, or reliving bad memories.

Jennifer Simmons Kaleba with RAINN, the anti-sexual violence organization, said Interlochen was right to pursue the investigation and release it to the public, but that those actions are just the first step.

“It’s good to meet the bar. If the bar and the promise is transparency and safety for the students that are in your charge — and I think that should be the bar — then, good,” she said. “What you do with a report after that is where things matter. Releasing it? That’s the bar you should meet. And I don’t say that to disparage or negate what Interlochen has decided to do. Meeting the bar is exactly what we should be doing. Exceeding the bar, that’s the next step.”

Devey echoed that sentiment.

“This fundamentally comes back to ‘How are we better tomorrow than we are today?’ and that’s our obligation to our students,” he said. “This report is very difficult. It’s difficult to read, it’s heartbreaking, it’s painful. I feel for every alum who had this kind of experience here. It is not what we’re about. But it will make us better, and for that I’m deeply grateful to the alumni who came forward.”

This reporting is made possible by the Northern Michigan Journalism Collaborative, led by Bridge Michigan and Interlochen Public Radio, and funded by Press Forward Northern Michigan.

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