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I’m not buying flo this summer. That’s all i did last year. $60 for two months. I spent about $5000 on drum corps between donations and shows in 2019. And similar amounts annually for many years beforehand. I’m not boycotting. I’m sure there will be plenty of people to take my place. I just don’t feel comfortable in supporting this activity under the CURRENT circumstances.

So does “Just get to the bottom of it Doc”.

'Anyone need anything while I'm out?' works too

I worked under same system in DoD. The difference is that in DoD there is teeth to the policy, and the organization is more than willing to use the teeth when needed. It has been proven time and again that DCI/Corps cannot, or do not want, to discipline themselves. It only happened with Cadets, Pioneer, Crossmen, & Troopers when news media picked up the story. With SoA nothing happened until a brave victim came forward (after hiring a law firm). All of this happened in public. And the publicity debacle is what forced action, not DCI/Corps doing the right thing for the right reasons. There are current allegations against Raiders, Battalion, & SCV new director. What is DCI doing about this? It would appear NOTHING.

Right!? This thread has really gone to s***

Pioneer had a 'family culture' as well. Families can be dysfunctional.

IIRC what got the Tailhook scandal rolling was a 60-minutes piece; they had the female helo pilot who was assaulted, etc. And I suspect you, having lived it as well, know how big a deal it turned out to be (in USAF the same reforms happened; but the spotlight was on the Navy). People got fired; careers were ended; people lost their livelihood - All for good reason. Where I get confused is whether: 1 DCI/Corps don't really care that abuse is happening?, or 2 DCI/Corps want to stop the abuse but don't know how to do it?, or 3 DCI/Corps want to stop the abuse but don't have the courage to do it?

Fair. Let me phrase it another way. Who oversees whistleblower reports to the individual corps? Who determines legality at the corps level? Who determines legality at DCI? This is a black box. Who oversees whistleblower reports to DCI? EquitAbility is contracted for investigations, but I don’t believe they audit the whistleblower complaints. Who does? Does that happen now? Should it? Is anybody happy with how either of these reporting mechanisms are working? Are they serving the members well? Are they serving the activity well? If not, how is change brought about? Recently, a student reported a very serious situation to DCI and WGI. 4 months into the investigation, an anonymous Instagram account reached out, asking specific questions about the situation, a situation only a few people were made aware of. There’s major mishandling of these incidents and they get bungled at every step, it seems. My point is, the mechanisms in place are manned by woefully untrained, probably well-meaning people, who have no idea how to actually handle these complaints. We’ve only heard about some of the mishandling. I’d expect there’s a LOT more. Btw, WGI asked this student to keep the situation “hush-hush” after determine the offending instructor (active in BOA, DCI, WGI, and multiple Winterguard circuits) was egregiously wrong, which is victim silencing, a HUGE no-no. That person slithered under their rock and might still be consulting programs - who knows? The floodgates have been open for a while now. The 2 sandbags are not enough. We need more sandbags.

there needs to be one place to go that sits outside of DCI's office.

don't click on it

see i am torn. i don't want to walk away. but at this point, short of corps getting sued out of existence, i don't know what else it will take for DCI to get their #### together

And the floodgates are opening.

Butt, it’s an important subject

Time to dump it?

Goes without saying if I’m posting

No - evidently, bad press gets their attention just fine. Whether that attention generates anything more than cowering in a room with their lawyers, however, varies case by case.

I don't know if John is going to be part of the team, i just did a small column ( my usual one) except i didn't have anything d###### from DCP to talk about as the discussion on here has been great on this sad topic. except on the sound file a few words don't get ####'d out 🙂

Sorry. Stupid fingers. Shadow D&BC.

Perhaps SDBC? Shadow D&B C?

Agree on calling 911 for assault. I should have been clearer that I was referring to (non-physical) harassment. I have no confidence in any group policing themselves like DCI is doing. Especially since hitting a corps in the $$$$ will hurt DCI in the $$$$.

I’d call 911 if I was sexually assaulted while on tour with a drum corps. But I’m not telling anyone else what to do. There was a member on drumcorps Reddit a couple of years ago who said that when she called DCI about being sexually assaulted, the woman on the other end told her she’d have to find a way “to get over it”. Very helpful. Getting right down to it. 🙄 I have ZERO confidence in them doing the right thing.

Seriously? This thread has clearly outlived its usefulness.

First time was delayed because police were looking for someone in doctors neighborhood. I’m ready and doc is calling saying he just got past the checkpoint with cops searching his car. See you in 30 minutes. Second time he walked in saying “same as last time right?”. I said “except you’re on time”. Then explained about the police delay. He got a big smile “oh that was you”. 😀

So it did not work for you... and that proves it is the only way?

When I get the procedure, the last thing I say before they put me under is, "OK, doc, put all of my problems behind me. "

Don’t we know the way this plays out by now…X corps wins prelims. Devils squeak by at semis. Devils pull ahead at finals since they perform last and visual judges can safely give them 20s.

Honestly just let WGI manage that office since they are already so far ahead.

Don’t hire an attorney…marry one.

That’s a perv’s name if I’ve ever heard one….

Agree with that, for sure. I know of some who moved around between the class 'A' level corps, but I agree it was much less back then. In the modern era of competitive MB, the whole model is different than back in the past. Lots of kids never did marching band pre-DCI; they started in small corps and maybe moved up. Those that did MB in that era most likely did not compete. MB and drum corps were more parallel activities then. Today, HS MB is the training ground and took the place of those small corps from pre-DCI (and even in the DCI era to an extent). Kids march 4 years of HS MB and then a year or two of drum corps.

No doubt......I think if they worked at it, the corps could "get by" just fine on around 1/2 of the budgets that they have now.......I also noticed that they are doing far fewer shows this year than 2018.....BD only has 18 contests, and Crown 19.....Surf is lowest with 14....Cavies are highest with 26...........in 1983, the Cadets had 42 contests (41-1...a very good year...lol)....less shows equals less income, and money is money......but I doubt the kids are paying one less dollar......

Or perhaps… not wonder at all…

Gino Cipriani promoted to Boston Crusaders assistant director position. Quote: "Gino will serve as Assistant Director as well as continue his role as a Director of Music where he administers and oversees the BACBrass program." https://bostoncrusaders.org/2022/01/gino-cipriani-assistant-director/

I have not logged in to DCP in a while, and tonight I see this thread and I am extremely somber and depressed about the current state. This might just be the final nail in the coffin. I can't imagine a world without Drum Corps. I marched for many years in the '70's and never saw any indication of anything inappropriate, but I'm sure there were situations that occurred. Has DCI addressed these accusations? Have they released a statement?

The list of shady characters involved in this activity dates back 50 years. The list of names would not be surprising to some and would be shocking to others. The level of arrogance increases with every new pageantry leach carving out a livelihood. The number of sexual predators in and around the activity is nothing more than a microcosm of our society that entered into the activity, and is increasing with each season. Many risk factors are apparent - member isolation, relationships with other members, adult staff, and volunteers, all interacting making it possible to target higher-risk groups like the drum corps touring model. The greater the number of sexual assault risk factors, the greater is the likelihood that a person will be a perpetrator or a victim. IMO the organizations need to be held accountable for the actions of those affiliated in either a dependent or subordinate position. DCI is too incompetent to thoroughly address predator-prey interactions. (911) is your friend. A specially trained police officer is better equipped and prepared to handle the particular situation to document and/or make an arrest. Don't expect any organization to have your best interest in mind, they're protecting their livelihoods that you are funding.

I wonder what John will say a bad day of drum corps is better than …. Because we have had some very bad days of drum corps lately.

This is not accurate. DCI doesn't automatically receive whistleblower reports that are filed with the individual organizations (there is a separate line to DCI that can be used, but just like the corps don't get those reports, DCI doesn't get the corps' reports). We can argue that the policy needs changing (I would agree that it does), but the unbelievable mishandling of the SOA situation from this past summer lies squarely in SOA's laps. They failed their own members.

I saw this on social media: “ dci keeps better records on kids that owe money than on members and adults that don’t follow the rules”.