Berklee College of Music president out after two years

Erica Muhl is out as president of Berklee College of Music after only two years on the job, following an unexplained leave of absence that began last month, The Boston Globe reported.

An announcement Monday from Marty Mannion, chairman of Berklee’s Board of Trustees, offered little information about Muhl’s abrupt exit, noting that the board had been “actively engaged in ongoing discussions” with the president and that she would “not be returning to Berklee.”

Muhl was the fourth president in Berklee’s 78-year history and the first woman in the job. 

Muhl’s departure comes on the same day that Seton Hall University president Joseph Nyre announced he would be stepping down—reportedly over a conflict with Seton Hall’s board over law school governance issues—and mere days after presidential resignations at Stanford University and Texas A&M University.

At Stanford, Marc Tessier-Lavigne resigned following an investigation that cleared him of research misconduct but identified uncorrected errors in his past work. Kathy Banks retired abruptly from Texas A&M University over the botched hiring of Kathleen McElroy, a Black journalist and professor tapped to revive the journalism major who became a subject of outside criticism for her work on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.