Update from the Philadelphia Inquirer

[DCIat14]

1 minute ago, JimF-LowBari said:

Would be nice to see something positive but how can it be a “smear mission” if it is true.

Just meaning she has done zero stories on the positive aspects of drum corps prior to Hop's story, nor have there been any fillers to add more information to an outsider on our activity and all in entails.  For example, how hard these members work, the effects on their bodies, how they come from all over and grow as a family - friendships often lasting lifetimes, so on & so forth.   Just like I said, these sexual abuse stories MUST be brought to light and dealt with.  Changes have to be made and every victim acknowledged as they are all very important and should have never had to go through what they did.  

 ...but there are so many other aspects of drum corps that are not being talked about.  

[JimF-LowBari]

3 minutes ago, DCIat14 said:

Just meaning she has done zero stories on the positive aspects of drum corps prior to Hop's story, nor have there been any fillers to add more information to an outsider on our activity and all in entails.  For example, how hard these members work, the effects on their bodies, how they come from all over and grow as a family - friendships often lasting lifetimes, so on & so forth.   Just like I said, these sexual abuse stories MUST be brought to light and dealt with.  Changes have to be made and every victim acknowledged as they are all very important and should have never had to go through what they did.  

 ...but there are so many other aspects of drum corps that are not being talked about.  

See my addition comment above about following a story.

[Eleran]

21 minutes ago, Tim K said:

The former director of the Cadets was the abuse of power, the former teacher the immaturity and lack of professionalism.

Really?   The initial 3 or so female allegations against Hopkins occurred when he was 23 and an Assistant Director

The admitted actions by Moody happened when he was 31 and the student's band director.  How is that merely "immaturity" and "unprofessional" and how is it NOT abuse of power?!?

Furthermore, I have significant concerns over whether all the facts ever came out.  The police did not investigate because no victim lodged a complaint; the school board cut off their investigation because he resigned; and his licence was not revoked following a complete investigation, but he agreed to a 5 year suspension.  Some of the texts certainly implied that more may have been going on than simply sexting.

Edited May 18, 2018 by Eleran

[HockeyDad]

1 hour ago, MusicManNJ said:

It is not even close to a criminal act. He is not lucky. There is nothing to charge him on and to suggest so it ridiculous.

You don't know what you're talking about

[DCIat14]

17 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

Would be nice to see something positive but how can it be a “smear mission” if it is true.

ps it’s called following a story. She is not following drum corps she is following the harassment mess. Would be like asking why the lady who broke the Sandusky story didn’t write puff pieces about Penn State instead of just Sandusky investigation.

True...but Penn State was known for much more than Sandusky as they had PLENTY of press coverage.

Again, not arguing the validity of the complaints nor the need to make change.  I am a victim of #MeToo as well, so I certainly would never turn a blind eye to it.  I just worry about Drum Corps and it's future.  Concern for the activity and respect for the victims can actually coincide.  It's not who is on one side of the fence vs the other.

[seen-it-all]

16 minutes ago, DCIat14 said:

 ...but there are so many other aspects of drum corps that are not being talked about.  

 

Try reaching out to her and suggesting it. She's very open to comments from what I understand.

[Terri Schehr]

1 minute ago, DCIat14 said:

True...but Penn State was known for much more than Sandusky as they had PLENTY of press coverage.

Again, not arguing the validity of the complaints nor the need to make change.  I am a victim of #MeToo as well, so I certainly would never turn a blind eye to it.  I just worry about Drum Corps and it's future.  Concern for the activity and respect for the victims can actually coincide.  It's not who is on one side of the fence vs the other.

It’s going to be a little bit of a rough patch and I, like you, hope this cloud doesn’t overshadow what these great kids are doing.  We’ll all get through this and it will be a better, stronger, and more healthy activity on the other side. 

[skevinp]

1 hour ago, fahox said:

This is why I rarely ask questions here ...

skevinp - no need for a snarky response.  I was attempting to get an answer on why Morrison's control over crossmen is being viewed differently than Hopkins control over yea. 

garfield - but Morrison is the ED of the bod and the corps director, what kind of controls can be set up to police him?

I'm sorry you felt my response was snarky, but your final sentence suggesting that the only difference between Hopkins and Morrison is their popularity seemed beyond ridiculous and led me to believe you couldn't possibly be serious.  

[MikeD]

50 minutes ago, seen-it-all said:

I do not in any way wish to demean or blame any individual who has a complaint about sexual harassment, but I think it's important that if they do have a complaint, even if they believe nothing will be done about them reporting it, they should lodge that complaint anyway. Get it on record, make copies, or do it in person and bring someone with you as a witness. Document every step of that process as accurately as you can. Then if the complaint is ignored or turned down, there will be a record of when, why, how, and who. Just MHO, as a cautionary thing so that these kinds of events have a more clear timeline of what exactly happened and when.

That is part of what is hopefully changing...that people are not afraid to come forward. It just was not that way before all of this, and that is a true shame, as so many have undergone horrible experiences and felt they had to keep them private. Now this Moody person may not be as far along the 'horrible' continuum as Hopkins, but even in his Xmen tenure he was engaging in improper behavior, and he got away with it due to the climate of the times. 

[MikeD]

38 minutes ago, bullethead said:

This is the previous policy that was posted/in place until just last week:

Staff/Member Relations: The relationship between teacher and student is central to the mission of the Crossmen. Non-professional ties between the staff member and student are not permitted. Consensual sexual relations between teacher and student/Crossmen member are inappropriate and are not tolerated. Crossmen Productions prohibits any sexual relations between a teacher and a student/Crossmen member. This includes, but is not limited to: inappropriate physical contact, non-professional messaging/texting, inappropriate dialogue and ‘sexting.’ Staff members may not meet with students alone in a closed setting. Staff members should have another staff member present when meeting with a student privately. Any employee, volunteer, or student knowingly violating this policy is subject to disciplinary action, which may include reprimand, suspension, or dismissal. Reporting Incidents: If sexual harassment is evident, it is your responsibility to report said activity. The procedure for reporting of incidents is to notify the Executive Director or Corps Director. In the event of the absence of the Executive Director or 12 Corps Director, please report to the Assistant Corps Director. Appropriate action is taken dependent on the details of the incident.

Perhaps this explains why people weren't comfortable bringing any issues up.

You can still see the previous archived version for yourself:

http://www.crossmen.org/download/2018%20Staff%20Handbook%20&%20Policies%20-%20Website.pdf?inline

Thanks! I had no idea of the history. The change is better, if not perfect. Of course, in that policy...Moody WAS the Asst Director I think.