Famed FAMU marching band suspended another year

[The Northerner]

Source: Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida A&M University's prestigious marching band, scarred by the hazing death of one of its drum majors, won't be taking the field for at least another year.

At a school where people attend football games just for the Marching 100 halftime show, where students enroll just for a shot at playing on the field, such a move is like saying the Alabama Crimson Tide won't play football for a year. The full impact on enrollment and the school community can't immediately be measured, but students and alumni said it's a move they support to make sure hazing is rooted out.

"What do we do in that one-year process to make sure these things do not happen again?" asked 25-year-old Travis Roberts, who has played clarinet in the band for four years. "We lack consistency at times, and this is something that needs to change. ... No one has taken accountability for what has happened. This thing didn't start only five years ago. This thing has happened the past 50 years."

FAMU President James Ammons said on Monday that the band, which has performed at Super Bowls and in inauguration parades, should not take the field again until a new band director is hired and new band rules are adopted. Among the rules being considered: Academic standards for band members, more chaperones on out-of-town trips and limits on how long a student can remain in the band.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jYnAA8xV3Ig2zHSEPuZHHM8C55WA

[MrYikes]

1. So

if we were to treat all life as precious, then the obvious answer is to eliminate the band. If you are going to send a message then let it be heard.

[Iris]

3. When the band includes 100 people who are not FAMU students,

it's possible there's a culture at play there that needs to be further investigated.

[blaze]

5. That was an interesting little factoid.

I wonder how that worked?

I'm glad the band is suspended for now and hope some good will come from this.

I can't even begin to imagine that sort of culture within a band. I must be incredibly naive.

[Blue_Tires]

8. some flunked out and others were attending other schools

Ammons also sent a two-page letter to trustees explaining that at the start of the fall 2011 semester there were 457 people on the band roster, but it turns out that 101 of them were not students at FAMU.

A total of 52 people - including 51 band members and one cheerleader - had been previously enrolled at the school but were not enrolled at the time of Champion's death.

Another 49 were listed as students at nearby Tallahassee Community College or Florida State University but they were not enrolled in a FAMU band class, nor did the university know for sure if they were enrolled at the other schools.

http://baynews9.com/content/news/baynews9/news/article.html/content/news/articles/bn9/2012/5/11/report_famu_band_mem.html

[csziggy]

4. The band brings in nearly as much money as the football team itself

FAMU will lose a lot of money if they eliminate it.

In addition, it has been a proud tradition for over a generation (to my personal knowledge) and probably longer. I hope that hazing has not been part of that tradition that long.

I hope they can extract the hazing & bullying aspects from the band program, clean it up and start fresh. But if they can't, let the tradition die - nothing is worth that kind of 'cultural' heritage!

[Iris]

7. I agree.

I hope this can be corrected and feel like that's where it's going. In groups that are heavy with tradition, sometimes it's best to break things off for a while and then rebuild.

[AngryAmish]

10. The torture has been going on for a long, long time

My vote would be to end it completely.

[obamanut2012]

12. I'm leaning towards really agreeing with this

[longship]

2. How about campus-wide zero tolerance for hazing

Which is just bullying by a different name.

Stupidity, actually.

[obamanut2012]

13. Hazing is assault

And, I agree, zero tolerance. Expulsion and the police called.

[aikoaiko]

6. Four year suspension where all the students cycle out and all marching band admins are replaced.

Scorched earth is fertile ground.

[yellowcanine]

9. How could the Faculty Senate have permitted this?

Universities operate under the principle of shared governance. There is a faculty senate or a university senate that is supposed to have a say in who is a student and who is not and what the rules are for participating in university sponsored programs and activities.

[obamanut2012]

11. Good

I actually think it should be two or three years, but at least that boy's murder is being taken seriously.