The Cadets and GH history of sexual abuse (news article)

[N.E. Brigand]

2 hours ago, tedrick said:

Good examples of how to deal with sexual predators: Garrison Keillor and Al Franken.

Both of these entertainers were much higher profile than GH - Garrison was taken down very quickly -- all mention of him has been removed from the Minnesota Public Radio web site -- Garrison built Minnesota Public Radio into an empire -- their current president and board sent him shipping quicker then a chicken catches a grasshopper in July.

Took a bit longer for Franken -- but claims directed toward his sexual harassment brought him down.

I think NBC's speedy removal of Matt Lauer and PBS/CBS's fast termination of Charlie Rose also qualify. Wow, reviewing the list on Wikipedia's Weinstein Effect page is enough to make one's head spin.

[MikeRapp]

This is infuriating because so darned many people warned YEA of the potential for such great peril for so many years. They did NOTHING but allow Hopkins to further insulate himself from accountability. It is inexcusable. And now this absurd press release? Awful. 

The Cadets deserve better, and all drum corps fans deserve better.

[BRASSO]

49 minutes ago, Jurassic Lancer said:

Sorry, I wasn’t clear ... George should have been suspended when the issue was brought to the board’s attention in January ... maybe with pay (or not) while the investigation was in process. 

 One assumes that this YEA Board would have notified DCI and IMMEDIATELY these serious allegations that YEA admits this evening in this press release that they were notified by the alleged victims attorneys of this back in January.

 However, from reading the DCI statement today, DCI seemed to be saying they were not made aware of these serious allegations back in January at all, but only " recently", and this is now into April.  YEA also states in their statement released here that there has been ( their words ) a " vigorous" on going investigation by a hired law firm into these allegations. Well, was DCI aware of this ongoing Cadets " vigorous " investigation taking place on these allegations that presumably began way back in January ? If so, the statement earlier today from DCI did not seem to acknowledge their knowledge that the Cadets were conducting a " vigorous "internal investigation by an " Attorney firm " into these multiple allegations.  I believe the hired law firm that YEA utilized to conduct a " vigorous " investigation into these allegations was YEA's own law firm too. if thats true, then that raises red flags as to exactly how " vigorous " was their on going investigation since January. Protocol would seem to call for a 3rd party independent law firm... hired by DCI perhaps...  and thus unbiased, to look into these allegations. YEA lawyers are hired primarily to protect the interests of YEA that pays them to do so, not anyone else who does not pay for their services.

 Todays DCI statement... followed up by YEA statement..... simply raises more questions befitting a CYA nature, than any real substantive effort to provide real " vigorous " efforts to get to the bottom of all this. That said, lets see how this all plays out over the coming weeks. months, as this is the mere beginning of a real bonifide " vigorous " investigation and who knew what, when,, and what they all did when this was initially brought to their attention.

Edited April 6, 2018 by BRASSO

[jjeffeory]

I still believe that Bruno Z would make a great director. He has been a top assistant director and corps director for world class championship corps. He's taught at the Cadets, he's from Pennsylvania. Also, Bruno knows how to respect tradition and he's worked with Drew Shanefield.

Edited April 6, 2018 by jjeffeory

[bstar82]

This reminds me of attending a show many years ago and afterwards, GH and some of his staff were in a local bar.  A man came up to GH screaming. accusing and wanting to fight him over these same types of antics with his daughter and a couple of staff members intervened and had the man removed for creating a scene. This is a sad day in DCI's history.

[MikeRapp]

Who gets to pay for the vigorous defense of Hopkins and YEA?

[Terri Schehr]

7 minutes ago, jjeffeory said:

I still believe that Bruno Z would make a great director. He been a top assistant director and corps director for world class championship corps. He's taught at the Cadets, he's from Pennsylvania. 

Jim loved when Bruno was in charge on tour.  He was the man with a  plan. The stress level automatically went down.  Bruno is a wonderful, caring person. 

Edited April 6, 2018 by Terri Schehr

[N.E. Brigand]

2 hours ago, jeffmolnar said:

I've wanted George Hopkins to resign for many years... but not like this.

[N.E. Brigand]

2 hours ago, Kyle B said:

I love the people who are commenting that they have to hear about the resignation tonight.  It's practically 10 PM>

Everyone acts like this has to be done at lightning speed.  Many schools are on spring break and having news come out tomorrow rather than today won't alter anyone's mind.

In this day and age of internet, everyone expects action or a response 2 minutes after something happens.  Real world is people have to get together for meetings, conference calls, etc.

In the field in which I work, a peer organization to mine in another city was contacted by a newspaper reporter saying: we're working on a story about a long history of workplace harassment by your artistic director (=co-CEO) of many years; care to comment? Later that day, the organization announced: our artistic director is retiring tomorrow. And then two days after that the story broke. At the very least, that's what YEA should have done.

[Lance]

Here are some suggested edits. I did it quickly, so forgive minor grammar errors. 

I'm not going to dignify the next 2 paragraphs with edits. They're too disturbing to read. 

The final paragraph was fine to me, so I didn't include it. 

This is a painful moment FIRST AND FOREMOST FOR THE ALLEGED VICTIMS, AND ALSO for all those who care about The Cadets and Youth Education in the Arts. Today a newspaper published multiple allegations of sexual misconduct OVER THE COURSE OF DECADES on the part of BY the organization’s CEO, George Hopkins. The anguish conveyed wasn’t missed. It was difficult reading for all.

George has resigned. Though he denies the allegations, he believes stepping aside is in the HIS IMMEDIATE RESIGNATION WAS IN THE best interest of the organization, ESPECIALLY THE YOUNG PEOPLE WHOSE SAFETY AND EDUCATION WE HAVE BEEN ENTRUSTED WITH. We agree. IF HE HAD NOT RESIGNED AT OUR REQUEST, HE WOULD HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM HIS POSITION IMMEDIATELY. His resignation is effective immediately.

The best thing YEA! can do now is TO DILIGENTLY FOCUS ON THE SAFETY OF OUR MEMBERS AND EMPLOYEES move forward through programs like  THROUGHOUT ALL OF OUR PROGRAMS, INCLUDING The Cadets, Cadets², USBands and Xcape. We have a full schedule and intend to keep it. Sean King, a fixture in the YEA! office and a veteran leader of so many of its programs, will be acting as CEO in the interim. There will be further appointments in the days to come. And as we proceed, this board and our staff will make certain our workplace and our programs provide a safe environment for all BY CAREFULLY SCRUTINIZING LEADERSHIP POSITIONS AT ALL LEVELS OF OUR ORGANIZATION. [/QUOTE]