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

[Tim K]

1 hour ago, mjoakes said:

NoNon-profit boards are often (not always) very tough things to work right. Members are often chosen for reasons other than their having skills and experience to help the organization. There is little attention to, or funding for, professional development related to management and leadership. Typical is that boards meet too infrequently, with information (especially financials) tightly managed and curated by executive directors or their staffs.

There is a bit of an ego lift from the ask to serve on boards. (Again, I'm referring to non-profit boards generally.) I've seen directors and chairs promote board membership as something that requires mostly just showing up. No extra work involved.

A lot of boards are simply not well constructed enough to be responsible for the work that they should do. (Many are; but again, a lot are not.) Fortunately, I've served on boards (and do so now) where I am active, deeply engaged, and fully informed. I've also served on a few where I just showed up.

So far as I can see from this event, the YEA board members appear to be examples of some of the worst kinds of board participants. (Actually, that's too strong a comment given such limited information I have on those members. On the other hand, that awful statement from YEA gives me enough confidence to go ahead with the comment.)

Surely, many DCP posters here must be the kind of people sought out to serve on boards of various sizes and weights. Maybe this is a great moment for all of us to reflect on how those boards are managed and how we can serve as productively as possible as board members supervising important music, arts, education, and other activities we have chosen to support.

I have been on boards and I have organized boards, and you are correct, getting them right is tricky. Ideally you need people who share your vision and are willing to make financial contributions to the organization. This inspires accountability. You need people with expertise. For drum corps this would be music educators and people involved in the arts. You should have at least one parent, one liability person, a medical person, and a representative from a separate financial board. There should be an alumnus and perhaps someone who marched with another corps.

My immediate thought is the current board is liability centered. Also, a board can only do what it’s charter allows. In January when these matters first came to their attention, they may not have had the authority to fire the director.if it’s purely an advisory board, it would not have that authority. If it is juridical, it might. I haven’t read the board’s charter and chances are unless there is a current or former board member on DCP, most of us have not read it either. I am not sure if it is available to the public. A public charter for a non-profit is not a requirement in Massachusetts. It may be a requirement in other states.

[camel lips]

7 minutes ago, GUARDLING said:

if all allegations become total truth after a process has happened I'm sure this would happen.

Yeah I think all of this talk about about kicking him out of the HOF is just a knee jerk reaction to the seriousness of the allegations. At this pint they are just allegations and I am more than willing to wait to hear them out . 

[Jeff Ream]

21 minutes ago, 2000Cadet said:

On another topic, is the HoF induction a permanent thing? We recall GH was inducted into the DCI HoF in 1997. Personally, I think he should be kicked out for this.

I spoke to 3 Crossmen alums who never wanted him in theirs and want him out now

[mfrontz]

3 minutes ago, Jeff Ream said:

I spoke to 3 Crossmen alums who never wanted him in theirs and want him out now

Count me in

[GUARDLING]

1 minute ago, Jeff Ream said:

I spoke to 3 Crossmen alums who never wanted him in theirs and want him out now

that's the knee-jerk reaction and putting something most wouldn't care about out front.  Although whoever is in charge of those things that is their choice but I think there are much bigger fish to fry here and far more important.

[Kyle B]

10 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

No, it never does.  Now that this is national with the AP picking up the story, if anyone was hoping this would quickly fade away...it won’t.  

It won’t go away for the fans and other corps, but this will not stay a national story, especially with the weekend coming up. Don’t believe me? Every article has said has said drum corps is small but has devoted fans.

 

How much of a national fuss if this happened  to a coach of a curling team.

[DeusExGreenMachina]

14 minutes ago, camel lips said:

At this pint they are just allegations and I am more than willing to wait to hear them out . 

Yeah it's definitely time for a beer.

[BRASSO]

47 minutes ago, N.E. Brigand said:

Thanks for the response. While I disagree--I think the first priority should have to have separated Hopkins from all members--I do appreciate the thoughtfulness of your reply.

 I agree with this. According to the Philly Inquirer reporter, the YEA BOD was told by the Victim's Atty ( Hahn ) the details of each of the 9 separate acts of sexual abuse spanning decades. Only the names were withheld. But those names AND the women would be provided for interviews to YEA, if YEA agreed to suspend GH, and allow for a 3rd party independent investigation of the victims alleged abuses. If these are the terms, given the fact the alleged victimization spanned decades,  involved 9 people, and the sheer numbers of victims that will be made available for interviews to the YEA Board, it seems a no brainer to me. The YEA BOD needed to go immediately to GH and tell him he needs to step aside for a bit until this matter can be resolved by a 3rd party investigation, then DCI immediately notified as well of their decision. The YEA BOD however, in their quest to protect YEA  made a decision ( allowing GH to stay on with these multiple allegations from victim's Atty swirling about ) that was actually perhaps counterproductive to that quest. Given the depth, breadth, numbers of the multiple acts of sexual abuse allegations, the YEA BOD had a moral, ethical, perhaps legal, obligation to make certain that the Cadets MM's, staffers, workers were now in no future potential harm.  The current YEA BOD failed .. miserably... in their duties to fall on the side of caution and safety above all else, particularly when its a YOUTH organization they are representing.

Edited April 7, 2018 by BRASSO

[Seahawk]

On 4/5/2018 at 4:13 PM, year1buick said:

Stomach turning. If they don’t get in front of this quickly (e.g. George needs to step down or be fired), members and staff could start jumping ship en mass, and fast. The first thing that popped into my head was Harry Knowles and the aintitcoolnews site. (In Austin, Texas.) When that story broke publicly they had a near total staff turnover, practically overnight. He eventually stepped down, but the damage had been done. He and the site became an instant pariah and other associations, such as those with Alamo Drafthouse, were cut as well. Similar things could happen with the Cadets. They need to act NOW. 

 

makes you wonder about what happened at the end of the 2016 season when a large portion of Cadets staff jumped ship, including long term staff. George has always had the reputation of being difficult to work with. Is there a possibility those staff also had a hunch about what was to come. I doubt it will happen but it would be interesting to hear the opinions of some of them.

 

[IllianaLancerContra]

9 minutes ago, Kyle B said:

It won’t go away for the fans and other corps, but this will not stay a national story, especially with the weekend coming up. Don’t believe me? Every article has said has said drum corps is small but has devoted fans.

 

How much of a national fuss if this happened  to a coach of a curling team.

Philly newspaper says they are printing part 2 on Sunday