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Shouldn't it just be mandatory in DCI that if State Board's of Education believe you are unfit by character, behaviors, incidents to be teaching anywhere in their schools, ( revoking a teacher's license ) that DCI should have a required policy that you are likewise deemed unfit to be around youth that travel from school to school on 9 -10 week summer tours ? Isn't some of this pretty predictable if we think about it ? The fact that on more than one occasion DCI Corps are found hiring people that had incidents of sexual misconduct , had lost their Teaching License, is both appalling as well as pretty predictable that DCI would ultimately find itself in the current situation that it finds itself in. What were they thinking ? Here's the deal.. around youth, there is no such thing as a " second chance " regarding behaviors that involve sexual misconduct by teachers/ instructors/ school employees in trusted positions of authority over youths in their charge. All 50 state's Teacher Licensing Boards believe so. DCI should come into the 21st Century here and adopt policy and procedures, with stiff penalties, including termination of membership in DCI, for Corps found hiring people that have previously had their Teaching License revoked by virtue of incidents of sexual misconduct.

Good people make mistakes every day. Sometimes there are consequences. I’m happy for you that your experience was good. But it’s not all about you. There’s a great big world out there of people who may not have had your great experience. You are not the arbiter of what can or cannot be discussed here or to monitor or judge our common sense. There are moderators here and if they find the discussion out of bounds or distasteful, they will take care of it. And I’m 60 years old. I have plenty of common sense. So don’t get preachy and sanctimonious with me.

Maybe you never saw the right paintings...

I’m going to be delicate in my response, just for you. great people don’t ####### hire individuals fired for sending inappropriate text messages to students or ignore complaints and concerns from former staff and other directors. Great people say “ I don’t care how ####### good you’ll be for my corps, you’ve got a public record of ####### inappropriate behavior with kids, of which my corps is ####### full of. Want a second chance? Go find God.”

Oh boy. I live in Winter Park/Orlando and this was big news locally when it first happened. I really can't believe Crossmen took him on after all that and the revocation of teaching certificate, etc. It was a much more clear-cut case than the camera in the practice room thing with the (now former) Cadets staffer. This guy admitted to sending the creepy texts. Yes people deserve second chances, but after something of this nature, maybe your second chance involves selling shoes. An authority position in a youth activity again? NO WAY. The sunlight has been blistering on the activity so far, but much more of it is needed to stop this culture of enablement. Morrison needs to face the music. How can he lead the DCI board's work on new rules to prevent these sorts of situations when he himself didn't step up and act?

There are some professionals, such as teachers, doctors, etc., that are entrusted with a privilege, to perform their job duties in an ethical, non-harmful manner. That trust evaporates when something like this occurs. Without that trust, how can they still perform their job? It has nothing to do with forgiveness or declarations of good intentions.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. I shall be as hard on Crossmen as on Cadets. How about it, Crossmen board of directors? Why is your corps director so apparently tone deaf about having a perv on his staff? Even after receiving feedback on him from multiple sources. His response is - shut up we're moving on? Really? Crossmen BOD, why haven't you removed your corps director? He clearly demonstrates inadequate sensitivity about sexual harassment. There is no place in this activity for that.

Some of these folks don’t seem ready for a culture change. I encourage all women and men of the marching arts to come forward if you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted. We have your back. The activity needs a good scrubbing and it will NOT be healthy until that happens.

I think I know a thing or two about penance, and since we don’t mix religion and politics, I won’t go on and on, but you don’t “pay” penance, and when some thought you could “pay” penance, it caused the Reformation.

I saw it. I know people interviewed in the article and people I reached out to told me. I’ll be delicate again: he lost his ####### teaching license for sending lewd text messages to students and then was hired two ####### times by youth organizations. I don’t care how ####### good he is, he should never have been ####### hired to teach youth. There are some things in life you shouldn’t get second chances at.... and teaching kids when your ####### teaching license was revoked for sending x rated texts is one of them. The road to hell is often paved with good intentions no matter how ill informed those intentions may be.

This was posted on drumcorps Reddit. It provides a timeline for clarity. The article is about what happened on tour with a staff member AND his prior license loss. It's brought up twice in the article. The second time even with copies of the texts to the underage student. The article is calling into question why the Crossmen allowed this man to be hired in the first place as well as continuing to keep him on staff (paragraphs 4-5) 2010: Florida high school teacher Moody is caught texting inappropriate messages to one of his underaged high school students and looses his teaching license (paragraphs 1-3) (paragraphs 15-18 including pictures of the messages) 2011: Moody was hired to work with Teal Sound, knowing of his past sexual relation with students (paragraph 19) 2012: Moody is hired by the Crossmen. (paragraph 21) 2013: Corps director Morrison learns about Moody's past and continues to keep him employed (paragraphs 35-36) 2014: Morrison continues to side with Moody when questioned about his past (paragraphs 38-39) 2015: Moody hires a 22 year old woman and her (later) boyfriend and berates them the entire summer (paragraphs 27-34) 2016: Moody hires a different 22 year old vet and gives unwanted attention. (paragraph 23) And probably the most important part: 2 staff members feared that both the corps director and his wife would side with Moody and dismiss their claims (paragraphs 25-26 & 32) If Crossmen employees are uncomfortable coming forward out of fear of not being believed, why would any student? That's the point of the article. I read it.

I would’ve flipped out if I found out that someone with that kind of history was working one-on-one with my daughter in a performing group, regardless of how long ago the incident occurred.

The article said he was 31 when he sent those texts to an 18 year old. If that statement of age is correct, then anyone who claims "he was young and made a mistake" has their head up their @$$ . [Edit - and since he got his BME in 2001, and the incident occured in 2010, that age seems correct].

look....i feel for Morrison in one regard...the better side of many of us want to give people a second chance for a variety of reasons. But this topic....no, you can't. I mean look at the major names that have been exposed and not charged with anything via the legal system now ostracized and basically untouchable.....and my hunch is there are other shows out there yet to go public.

Drum Corps does have characteristics that make it unique, but the situation involving the former director of the Cadets had similarities to serial abusers, which most likely included believing he was above recrimination, and the situation of the man mentioned in this article has characteristics similar to situations outside of drum corps. Folks who have a long memory for DCP threads will remember how heated the discussions were when Teal Sound hired the man, and there were some who argued innocent till proven guilty, and while thst’s fair, you still need to be careful. Others claimed he was young and made a mistake. Yes, he was young, but he was old enough and experienced enough to know better. His being hired by Crossmen also was controversial, which was rather heated on DCP last fall. One way where drum corps is unique is everybody knows everyone else. This can be a strength for collaboration, but it can also blur perspective. Everyone loves Person X, believes he received a raw deal, needs a second chance. Would this person get a second chance with a school district? No, and it would be an objective decision. However, giving the second chance, while appearing generous, is actually more harmful. It appears to not take the victims seriously, and it’s not good for the accused either. He is once again being exposed to media scrutiny, and if, as some have suggested, other cases may be coming forward, his name will come up again. Beginning anew will be more difficult too, and getting a new job will be even more difficult. When behavior is criminal or borderline criminal, giving a second chance is important, but putting a person in a similar situation can do more harm than good. The second chance needs to be in a different situation where there is little to no chance of repeat offending.

Move in day for the Cadets. Excited to see where this goes. I anticipate this season will be much less frustrating than recent years. Gods speed to the Cadets!

So imagine this: you're in charge of Crossmen. You give Moody a second chance. You don't tell members and their parents what he'd done in the past. No one is on guard in case he does it again. And then he goes and does it again. In that scenario, what's your responsibility?

I think its been pretty much established by now here on DCP the last month that NO CORPS.... nor even DCI HQ itself.... nor its Board of Directors,... is immune from heavy scrutiny on what they knew, when they knew it, and what they did, when informed. There are no " glass houses " that can protect any Corps, any Board, anywhere in DCI from what cleaning house and a full accountability means. So I agree with you that anyone that thinks their Corps, or their favorite Corps or Corps, or DCI HQ friends can rest easy, that it does not involve THEM probably is going to be on edge for quite some time now. This mess could extend to well beyond our initial thinking.

I'm sure there's individuals in the DC Hall of Fame with very shady backgrounds but know one will bring it up because of respect the legacy they left on the activity.

Joel Moody may have been forthright with Fred Morrison and the Crossmen, but were Morrison and the Crossmen forthright with members and parents about Moody's past prior to this article's release? Note that Nadolny's next tweet reminds readers that Genesis's director says that Moody told him recently that he was going to be touring with Crossmen this summer.

1) Federal and state background check for any adult working with minors 2) Verification of all past places of residence included as part of the application. 3) Verification of all past places of employment. These would be enough for any competent person in charge of hiring to do a quick search of court records and reasons for leaving their previous employers as well as any conspicuous gaps in employment. No, it's not asking too much. As for whether or not to give somebody fired for, convicted of, or even suspected of harming children a "second chance," I guess that will be up to the corps unless DCI implements something draconian. In my opinion, for a corps to even think about being an outlet for "second chances" of this kind is beyond stupid. it was before the Hopkins story came out, and it is now.

Better to put out the fire when it’s a spark rather than waiting until it’s a raging forest fire. This is how we’ve gotten to this point. If things had been handled in a professional manner internally, we wouldn’t be where we are now as an activity. Putting out forest fires with a squirt gun.

true to a point. but in the reading the article, it seems clear there was a level of no trust in the director to do anything. Obviously there was a stink when the guy got hired, and Morrison defended it, and seemed to do so ever since. kinda like the old YEA Board.....why go to people you know will ignore it?

I don't even know how Moody was even hireable. I marched with the guy and I never liked him. We almost came to blows when I was on support staff with Magic. I thought that after all the backlash with Teal that he would have been out of the activity permanently.

Your best post ever

“He’s paid his penance”. Therein lies the problem right there.

Heck... maybe thousands, depending on how many years you go back. Like you said... timeline is a factor here. What was tolerated 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago... no longer is. In the years to come, I hope any organization that deals with youth... whether it be drum corps, cheerleading, or whatever... is fully aware of the reality that exists today. Among other things... don't hire the person with the questionable background. Period.

Yes, she's an " outsider ". its a shame that it took an outsider to do what the DCI insiders needed to have done a long , long time ago. She's terrific. Can't shoot the messenger here. She's simply doing her job. 'Glad to hear its being also reported she might attend her first DCI show this summer.

As I have mentioned in other threads... this is like a centipede (hat tip to John McCain). Many more shoes to drop. I might also add... those who live in glass houses... No group is out of bounds. better communications from DCI HQ is really in order but I fear... not forthcoming.

offenders yes find them..enablers? I have no doubt you could be talking hundreds through the activity. Timelines can also be an issue. Times are very different than they were even a few years ago. Rape, of course, is a whole different thing no matter the time. As far as Cadets it's probably the safest, most transparent, cautious corps out there this year.

Let's use the YEA revelation as a timeline comparison. 4/5 Article is posted. 4/6 George Hopkins resigns. (1 day) 4/11 BoD resigns (6 days) Both of those were official communications. Moody situation. 5/1 Moody resigns 5/15 AM article published 5/15 PM Crossmen announce Moody resigned 2 weeks ago. They were unable to communicate this earlier? Even when they knew Philly.com was about to publish. Ok.

I don't know Morrison, but I can understand people who believe in redemption, and I respect that impulse. Were the staffer a man once arrested for shoplifting, that'd be one thing. But a grown man communicating with a student about how he'd like to have sex with them is a very different type of situation, one where the subject's arousal by that kind of power and proximity is only going to be triggered by putting him in a situation where he has a lot of 16-20 year old women in his charge. To an extent, it'd like hiring a recovering alcoholic to manage a liquor store. Yes, you're giving someone a chance at redemption by giving them that job, but you're also putting them in the worst possible circumstances when it comes to battling their demons. There are lots of talented, dedicated people out there who would be happy to have the opportunity to work in this activity. There's no reason why any staff member or administrator who has evidenced poor judgment or a lack of control around teenagers and young adults should not find that their history disallows them from being part of the community. There are plenty of others whose interests are in the development of the members and furthering the art form, and who can respect boundaries - finding them is not really that hard.

He was a Band Director...not an assistant. He was in charge and sent over 10 sexual texts to a student of his. That people is a BIG RED FLAG!!!!.

More like "beyond creepy" text messages to that student. Nothing "sexy" about them.

Did you read the article? Two different staffers, in 2013 and in 2014, talked to the corps director about this person's conduct and actions that made them uncomfortable. So, third chance? Fourth chance?

I know Morrison has done a great job resurrecting the Crossmen but this was a major blunder on his part. The State of Florida ruled Moody he was not fit to be around students and that should have been the end of the story.

well....yes and no. Here's a member of the Board, and no full disclosure. granted he was hired before the new rules were in place, but per reading the article, there's some evasiveness. Morrison has IMO, been a pretty stand up guy since the Bones got sold off to Texas, but if watching YEA's response since Hop and the old board were booted out is any indication of what should be happening in Texas, pure blunt force trauma honesty and openness should be happening. that you have documented text messages the guy sent to kids in public documentation in Florida as well as now a major newspaper as part of the AP wire....aka the story spreading far and wide like the YEA story did.....no rules on paper in Indy can stop the PR damage. Quite honestly Dan and the corps need to send an all points out to all adults involved with every corps saying "if you've had issues in the past, we need to know now". I know one corps did just that. I dont now if it led to staff changes, but at least the corps was far more proactive than many others. the telling thing to me was Genesis director speaking up that he mentioned his concerns to Morrison in the article. I'm amazed the article didn't bring up Crossmens roots to Philly

I have a feeling The Cadets are going to bring the house down. I really like some of the selections. Make a statement that’s essentially “We are here, and We aren’t going anywhere”

Only days to go for Boston to start ST. Wednesday for percussion and this weekend for everyone else. I would hazard to guess the program announcement will soon follow MM's arrival. They get to hear it first. Very exciting. Can't wait. I think they'll have a smoking horn line.

Can confirm. Working for the Cadets this season. Can't join the corps until all 3 background clearances listed above are completed and approved.

The 2012 opener flag solo was cool also but agree, they deserve a couple moments!

Oh but there Was a problem. Staffers discussed it with the director and were ignored. The pattern of behaviors continued, the director was provided information about it.....and did not get rid of the guy. Good thing the Philadelphia Inquirer came along and finally shamed him into taking action. This doesn't sound like the kind of director the activity needs today, in my opinion.

Mr. Moody, according to the Philly Inquirer reporting was told to stop his sex texting by the H.S. Student. Did he ? According to the Philly Reporter's article, the only thing that changed was........ time. After some time elapsed, did he go back to his sex texting bad behaviors with her AGAIN ? According to the Philly Inquirer reporting, he did. So... how many chances was he given in this sorry saga ? Well, even with todays New Math that is taught in schools, I still come up with the number 2 Anybody else here come up with the number 1 in chances he had here ? Even the number 1 of sexual bad behavior episodes by a trusted adult in positions of authority over youth in their charge is 1 too many, imo. And the State Board of Education agreed when it revoked his Teaching License for 5 years. But 2,.. not 1.... DCI Corps during the teacher license revocation period, decided they would allow other people's children to be put at risk, something the State was not going to take in risk in any of their schools. Yet, there are STILL people in DCI,... we see it even here on DCP the last 12 months....that believe its appropriate to give unsuspecting parents and their children an environment where misguided adults decide to give a second,( or third, fourth or whatever number) chance to work in an environment that they have abused that trust, right, and responsibility before. Until DCI HQ decides that there can be no " second chance " opportunities for people caught in sexual misconduct misbehaviors , or with Corps that permit such hires, DCI will be unable to do what it claims it wants to so in the future, ie... provide a safe environment as humanly possible for its youth in its trust. One final thought... research studies have shown that those who were caught in sexual misconduct did not do so just once. They were simply uncovered once... or twice. The fact that in public, a person once found before in sexual misconduct, did not do so again is mere speculation alone. We do not know if a person found in sexual misconduct before did not do so any time after that again. Its possible they did not do so again. But its also entirely possible that they learned to simply be far more discreet in private sexual misbehaviors, which allowed them not be caught again, thats all. Both are possible.

This is unfair.

The source music actually ends with a brief epilogue with a very quiet finish after the rousing parts... drill condensing down into the “prayer block” would be a fitting ending given the circumstances and the show theme

No need Terri... I just shared a point of view and will not belabor the point since this is an important discussion.

Edit: Removed to avoid side-tracking discussion

(Darnit. Somebody beat me to it again.)

Oh yeah. Smokin’ hot.

We’re down to one corner of his mouth! It’s the one that had the most problematic tooth. He has a “gum flap” in that corner that is perplexing him, but no pain. Buzzed a mouthpiece for a few minutes today, including triple tongued exercises. Says it “feels weird” but no pain and no blood. Move ins are Friday. Just love that the staff has been so awesome. He’s on his way back! Might actually hear a note out of a horn tomorrow!