IllianaLancerContra Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 2 things - 1. Whatever happened to Pioneer apparently did not make an impression on SoA, Phantom, Mandarins, Troopers, Perhaps others. Which is why I am saying perhaps it is time to act decisively: Do not allow SoA to participate in DCI.and ban everyone, from the BoD, Director, down to potato peeler on the food truck from DCI. 2. The OP of the accusations should keep a log of who said what & when. This info may be useful to DCI or law enforcement as the situation is investigated further. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ContraBugle Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 1 hour ago, Smug Trumpet Guy said: This is what I'm having a hard time trying to understand as well. I believe a staff member is present on every bus, so I'm really not sure how they allowed oral sex to go down at the rookie talent night. And I've spent a great deal of this morning trying to call upon ANY memories of that night and nothing comes to mind. I don't even remember what my talent was, it's just so bizarre that this could have crept into the culture at SoA in the last decade. I know a couple years back there was an issue with the board and a woman that was overstepping her bounds but they voted her off. None of this makes sense to me. You see these stories with phantom and the cadets and you think this would have never happened where you marched, until a story like this comes out and completely shatters your entire feelings on drum corps. As a person on the brass bus, there were zero staff members present. What happened, also happened on the brass bus. It was horrible. Staff didn't handle it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 Here is a reply on the reddit OP, apparently from a 2007 member of a Corps that has since folded: level 1 exh78 ·1 hr. ago I'm sorry you had to go through all that. Not what the activity is supposed to be about. I had a similar experience with Rookie Talent Night at the corps I marched with in '07. It was a longer drive where we were only scheduled around 3 hrs of floor time once we got to the housing site, so we were wanting to sleep on the bus. The vets running rookie talent night had other ideas - they were getting right up beside rookies and screaming at them to wake to do their rookie talent. Lasted until around 3am, when we had a 7 or 8am wake up the next morning. I was one of the older rookies (19, it was a young corps that year) and had just finished my first year at college which included some pretty rigorous anti-hazing training with the fraternity I was in. Much of the same activity was going on - the blanket midway through the bus to block anyone in the front from what was going on, a 17 year old mello player did a strip tease as her talent which ended in her in a barely-there bikini bottom and stick tape covering her nipples. Except we had two staff members in the back participating in the "judging". They wouldn't let me recuse myself from rookie talent night, so at the end of the night, my talent was a tongue lashing. I let them all know how insanely inappropriate and irresponsible the whole thing was, reminded them of our incredibly short scheduled floor time and how important sleep was to our performance, and even called out some fraternity brothers from other schools (the anti-hazing training was a major initiative from our national office, so I knew they'd gone through it too). Instead of anything reasonable like apologies, corrective action, or even something as simple as taking a break so we could sleep and continuing rookie talent the next night, it was decided I was the one in the wrong. In the following week or two, I had both vets and staff after me, waiting for the smallest slip-up. The visual caption head took a #### on my feet in the showers. The vis techs on my part of the field neglected other sections (and notably the new members that came in mid-season to fill holes and were still learning the drill) so they could watch me like a hawk waiting for any tick. (I didn't give it to them, and they got shut down when an annual guest staffer came in and made the comment during ensemble one day that I had the best toe height he'd ever seen in his history with the corps - the vis caption head made him repeat it to make sure he heard him right). I nearly quit several times throughout the season, even had an open offer to jump to the corps I really wanted to march, but ended up getting talked out of it. Stuck it out through finals week, and in the Saturday morning corps meeting we were told the corps was folding. Inappropriate behavior has unfortunately always been part of drum corps, and believe it or not the activity is by far the tamest and best behaved now it's ever been. There's still plenty of room for improvement though. Cutting up & some shenanigans are to be expected, especially with the membership demographics, but there's always a line that shouldn't be crossed. If the membership & staff can't operate with respect and support for its members, IMO that's not a very good drum corps. I was neither surprised nor upset when we were told our corps was folding. Unfortunately some of the offending staff went on to continue at other corps, but it seems most of them washed out of the activity very shortly after. Advice to any future marching members that have to endure any of this type of ######## - if the staff doesn't take action or tries to defend bad behavior, go outside the operational organization and talk with alumni. If you want quick action, support from active alumni is always the most effective route. Every corps relies heavily on alumni for both monetary and volunteer support, and if alumni are pressuring the corps director over unacceptable behavior you're much more likely to see swift action than if it's only being reported by membership. Don't go straight to alumni for this, always try the appropriate chain of command first, but if the chain of command doesn't respond appropriately reach out to alum. We want to see the activity continue & thrive, and the members to thrive & succeed, and that can't happen if the environment isn't conducive to it. Drum corps is about excellence, and unless that excellence permeates every aspect of the organization they'll never achieve the level of excellence the membership and audiences deserve 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 1 minute ago, ContraBugle said: As a person on the brass bus, there were zero staff members present. What happened, also happened on the brass bus. It was horrible. Staff didn't handle it. Shut. Them. Down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 1 hour ago, GetOFFmyDot said: Current and past members of Spirit are now attacking and harassing the person who shared their experience of being assaulted and not supported. Anyone engaging that behavior should not be allowed to March in any corps. Spirit needs to respond. Atlanta media has been made aware of this situation and I know at least one reporter has made initial inquiries. ugh It occurs to me that because DCI is based in Indianapolis, perhaps the Indianapolis Star should start an investigation. They have the expertise concerning the investigation of sexual assault in a competitive artistic youth activity- it was their reporters that broke the Larry Nassar/USA Gymnastics story. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppycock Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 A police officer once told me that a person who was cited for their first DWI more than likely has driven hundreds of times before ever getting caught. Believe the same goes for this type of behavior like that experienced in SOA, in most, if not all organizations. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cainan Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 (edited) Policy 321 of theDCI rulebook states... "Violation of DCI Policies and Procedures may require the CEO to take disciplinary action against any participating organization or any executive, employee, contractor, performer or volunteer of any participating organization. Such disciplinary action shall be taken in the sole discetion of the CEO and may include, but is not limited to, suspension from participation in any DCI sanctioned events, activities, facilities and housing sites for any period of time; and as to any participating organization, witholding payment of funds for the assessment of a fine of up to a total of $5000.00 for each violation" This is the policy that was implemented in the death penalty of Pioneer. Dan Acheson CAN take action right now if he chose to do so. The question is will he? Personally, I think if nothing else, DCI needs to ban Spirit of Atlanta immediately until such time as they can prove they have basic child protective measures in place. Whilst yes, many (if not most) of the members are in fact over 18, we still do have LEGALLY speaking children on the field. As the sanctioning body with general oversight of the activity, DCI has a moral responsibility (if not a legal one) to ensure the safety of children participating in their organized activities. Edited January 9, 2022 by Cainan 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 3 hours ago, Jeff Ream said: Because police did investigate the cadets issue and if I recall there were holes in the story that caused no charges to be filed If police/DA's office investigated & found holes in the Cadets member at Indianapolis story, OK, that happens. But it should be the authorities in Liberty, AL, and Dora, AL that conduct an investigation. The statute of limitations for misdemeanors in AL is 12 months; for felonies 3 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimF-LowBari Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 5 minutes ago, Cainan said: Policy 321 of theDCI rulebook states... "Violation of DCI Policies and Procedures may require the CEO to take disciplinary action against any participating organization or any executive, employee, contractor, performer or volunteer of any participating organization. Such disciplinary action shall be taken in the sole discetion of teh CEO and may include, but is not limited to, suspension from participation in any DCI sanctioned events, activities, facilities and housing sites for any period of time; and as to any participating organization, witholding payment of funds for the assessment of a fine of up to a total of $5000.00 for each violation" This is the policy that was implemented in the death penalty of Pioneer. Dan Acheson CAN take action right now if he chose to do so. The question is will he? Personally, I think if nothing else, DCI needs to ban Spirit of Atlanta immediately until such time as they can prove they have basic child protective measures in place. Whilst yes, many (if not most) of the mebers are in fact over 18, we still do have LEGALLY speaking children on the field. Corps need to be able and willing to protect all people connected to the corps (members, volunteers, staff, etc) regardless of age. More I read the more I agree with shut the crap show down until fully investigated. Sounding like a failure from top down… 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjoakes Posted January 9, 2022 Share Posted January 9, 2022 I keep waiting (hoping!) for a post or few with evidence that events did not unfold as badly as described by the member who originally posted. Or with evidence that Spirit staff and leaders acted much more appropriately than is indicated. Looks like those posts are not going to appear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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