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

[MikeN]

Oh YEA, you were doing so well yith your latest Apology-for-the-Apology. Striking the right tone, saying the right things...

Quote

Members have come together to joyfully play music. Supporters have come forward with offers of generous financial and moral support. Sisters and brothers across the marching music activity have come to share their support in all forms. YEA! staff have been empowered to create new policies and protocols that are necessary as we carry out our mission. And we are only at the very beginning of our journey.

Oh good, I’m glad y’all are starting the healing... wait, what do you mean *they’re* not the victims?

Mike

[Forevergreen]

19 minutes ago, DrumManTx said:

We might all argue over a lot but when it comes down to something that truly matters we are more similar than we would have ever thought.  

Agree so much with this. Collectively, we all love the activity, so all differences and tastes aside,  when it comes down to matters to keep it alive and well,  we can come together.

 

[TerriTroop]

Here is something I wrote specific to a forum about being female. I think it's time to share it here, with some minor edits. It's a story that I think embodies a lot of what was happening in America, including drum corps, when I was in my teens and 20's in the 1980's. It is based on my own experiences with what it was like for me and my female peers in a very male-dominated world. I certainly acknowledge that sexual harassment and abuse is not just about males targeting females, but at the moment that's what we are discussing. And so: 

 

A STORY ABOUT GIRLS AND BOYS

A long time ago, in a universe kind of far away, women in certain jobs were expected to put up with certain "flirtations". If we dared to speak up or stop it we were usually told we were making a mountain out of a molehill. "Don't worry, darlin', he doesn't mean anything by it. You just keep doing what you do. You got nothin' to worry your pretty head about." Sadly, our older female mentors often recited these lines to us, and so we were taught to not rock the boat. But deep down inside we felt there was something really wrong with what was happening.

 

We were aware that we were in a situation that was a boys game, and the boys made the rules. And the girls in the game would blow off the "flirtations" (and worse), make jokes about it, and minimize the chilling effect it had on our ability to do our jobs because we wanted to KEEP our jobs. So, a lot of us just played the game and grit our teeth as much as we could stand it, and the boys thought everything was cool.

 

Until one day, a few decades later, something happened - the girls were speaking up and finally not being shut down. Girls could say that the boys had done a wrong thing to them and almost nobody recited the old lines, or blamed the girls for how they looked, or cast doubt on them by wondering why they didn't speak out earlier, or accuse them of luring those poor, innocent boys into their girly sex traps. (can you hear my eyes rolling?)

 

And so a lot of girls are now telling their stories. And I'm so glad that they are. These stories are often similar: A strangely powerful club of predator-men in positions of authority used their power to openly leer at the girls, to cop a feel, to extort a sexual relationship, or worse. But the tide changed, and the members of the predator-man club were finally seen for what they actually were.

 

The girls now say to those particular boys and the boys they ran with: your rules were crap, and you don't get to tell the girls to sit down and shut up any more.

 

THE END.

***********

(Please know that this story is just my way of expressing my gratitude for the changes in our American culture that have made it possible for these women, and so many others, to come forward and seek justice for the multitudes of wrong acts that have been perpetrated under the alluring disguise of power and success. Also know that I do not want good, honest, ethical people to go down with any single predator's ship. There are great men and women who have been allies along the way. They, too, felt powerless for far too long.)

[N.E. Brigand]

15 minutes ago, JMS1995 said:

I have a question that will inform my opinion as to how deep the housecleaning needs to go at Yea!  Someone here probably knows the answer...

is the current Yea! BOD the same BOD that approved the hiring of Scott Acheson?  And equally important, were they aware of his conviction?

I think it's unlikely the board approved any specific hire besides Hopkins himself, leaving all other staff decision to him. That is at least my experience 

However, we know form posts last year, which mingusmonk quoted much earlier in this thread, that Hopkins did inform YEA's lawyer about Acheson's past. I'm not clear whether this was before or after Acheson was hired.

[N.E. Brigand]

3 hours ago, JohnD said:

Please note:

Discussion in this thread must be limited to the matter of the published article.  Reference to any other rumors or suspected incidents will not be allowed and will be removed, pursuant to our Community Guidelines.   Should additional reports be published by DCI, its member organizations, or 'legitimate journalistic publications', we will expand the scope of this thread or permit new threads to be opened.

THANK YOU for your thoughtful and reasoned participation in this important discussion.

-john

One of those posts was mine, collating posts by six other people all referencing the same prominent individual. I do not object in the least to the deletion. It's completely understandable that DCP does not wish to be sued for defamation. But I will repeat the message I imparted yesterday: if you know something, now is the time to speak up--just not here. Contact DCI, contact the specific corps in question, contact a reporter. Do not assume that what you know is known to those who are going to have to deal with it. Even if a corps let someone go, it's quite possible that the people who knew the circumstances are not there anymore and will not be prepared to answer journalist's questions.

[Terri Schehr]

At the risk of being redundant, I guess the thing that is sticking in my craw the most right now, is why is the Board of Directors still in place?  I’m sure there are outstanding alumni and other leaders in our little world who would step forward.  Especially now.  It seems to me this is not a good step toward the healing process.  

Edited April 8, 2018 by Terri Schehr

[Liahona]

8 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

At the risk of being redundant, I guess the thing that is sticking in my craw the most right now, is why is the Board of Directors still in place?  I’m sure they are outstanding alumni and other leaders in our little world who would step forward.  Especially now.  It seems to me this is not a good step toward the healing process.  

Perhaps there is internal movement to make this happen.  I would think a replacement would need to be in order first before you oust the people that write the checks. Although if that were the case then it might behoove them to indicate steps are being taken to replace these folks.  As much as I am in agreement with many of you to see these folks go, I have my doubts whether such steps will be taken.

[Fran Haring]

12 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

At the risk of being redundant, I guess the thing that is sticking in my craw the most right now, is why is the Board of Directors still in place?  I’m sure there are outstanding alumni and other leaders in our little world who would step forward.  Especially now.  It seems to me this is not a good step toward the healing process.  

What Terri said. 

[TRacer]

DCI assessing a fine would be a tough call but I could see alumni coming together to address that ob$tacle.

I see more “sting” in the form of He Who Shall Not Be Named’s HOF induction being revoked. Championships being vacated would be another blow with no “new winner” declared in solo years (e.g., ‘87, ‘90, ‘93, etc.) and instead being noted with the dreaded asterisk while the “tie year” (‘00) would revert to the co-champion. Before I get flamed please note that while drastic this idea is not without precedent in college athletics, and since DCI bills itself as “Marching Music’s Major Leagues” internationally then drastic may be in order. 

Edited April 8, 2018 by TRacer
Typos as I tried doing this without my glasses on.

[JMS1995]

1 minute ago, TRacer said:

DCI assessing a fine would be s tough call but I could see alumni coming together to address that ob$tacle.

I see more “sting” in the form of He Who Shall Not Be Named’s HOF induction being revoked. Championships being vacated would be another blow with no “new winner” declared in solo years (e.g., ‘87, ‘90, ‘93, etc.) and instead being noted with the dreaded asterisk while the “tie year” (‘00) would revert to the co-champion. Before I get flamed please note that while drastic this idea is not without precedent in college athletics, and since DCI bills itself as “Marching Music’s Major Leagues” internationally then drastic may be in order. 

Possibly a fine.  I'm still trying to figure out what DCI's Code of Conduct is (it is alluded to on their website, but with no link to it) to really lay that against what GH has done... within that Code of Conduct, I would assume it would spell out the penalties that could be levied should someone break it.