Jeff Ream Posted April 21, 2023 Share Posted April 21, 2023 13 hours ago, Tenoris4Jazz said: Oh come on! Rampant cheating, illegal payments, purposely bypassing the rules, and before they get caught and have to pay the penalty, the person in charge bails to go somewhere else. You can't honestly sit there and tell me the two situations aren't more alike than they are dissimilar. people left SCV to go to the Cascades? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRacer Posted April 21, 2023 Share Posted April 21, 2023 (edited) It’s been awhile and I just finished reading the previous 23 pages in one sitting….whether it’s a school of fish praying to the heavens or being shot in a barrel, the end result is the same: holy mackerel. Similar to what Martha (whom I marched with) posted earlier, I had to “consciously uncouple” from the alumni FB pages because I view what has taken place less as an alum and more as the parent of a performer who spent three fairly recent seasons in that org and won but whose overall experience was very much less-than-fulfilling. Not to be shellfish but I paid almost all of his tuition during that time, and I can’t help but think I should have encouraged him more to follow his section leader at RCC to Concord instead. Like a love-smitten eel, when the world starts to shine like you’ve had too much wine, that’s a-morrr-ray. Edited April 21, 2023 by TRacer Formatting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarimbaManiac Posted April 21, 2023 Share Posted April 21, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, scheherazadesghost said: It's on-brand for Vanguard alum to shoot the harbingers of bad news rather than do the work to confirm or disprove the news. It's also on-brand for those with bad news to grow increasingly frustrated with the barriers erected to prevent the delivery and integration of such news. This is typical of nearly every organization, especially non-profit. People who speak up are seen as trouble makers who just want to rock the boat, and urged to be quiet so the organization can move on without actually dealing with its internal problems. Normalize being loud and persistent in the face of corruption, mismanagement, and dysfunction. The one things that's become clear is that the org has some serious foundational work to do during this recovery process, and those urging silence in order to gloss over the problems and make the recovery easier, are complicit in the damage the issues have/will cause. Demanding compliance and passivity, in the name of "turning the page" guarantees nothing will change. 1 hour ago, scheherazadesghost said: The drum corps community permits people like this to bounce from group to group without so much as requiring supplemental training/compliance, and simultaneously gatekeeps outside professionals with legitimate concerns. In fact, all of these folks are in leadership roles no less. 100% - For all its faults, in my experience at least, higher-ed has started turning the corner in terms of accountability and equity. There is a lot of crossover between drum corps and higher-ed in terms of personnel. It would be valuable for the activity to leverage their experience to replicate some of the successes in the DEI space that have been achieved. That would require admitting fault, and the need for growth however, which is unlikely. I think that's my last thought on the topic. DC isn't part of my life anymore and hasn't been for a long while. I think the activity as a whole is heading for an economic and cultural reckoning soon that's probably long overdue, and the whole thing just gives me the ick. Edited April 21, 2023 by MarimbaManiac 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg_orangecounty Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 5 hours ago, MarimbaManiac said: There is a lot of crossover between drum corps and higher-ed in terms of personnel. It would be valuable for the activity to leverage their experience to replicate some of the successes in the DEI space that have been achieved. That would require admitting fault, and the need for growth however, which is unlikely. I have always found Drum Corps to be waaayyy ahead of society at-large in terms of both diversity-inclusion, and that was 50 years ago. We knew who the gay kids were and it didn't matter. Everyone obviously knew who the minority kids were too and that didn't matter either. And by equity, do you mean in the context of opportunity or results? I understand why you feel as you do. Drum Corps has been its own worst enemy, but I still believe it's a great activity for the young. Warts and all. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Ream Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 2 hours ago, greg_orangecounty said: I have always found Drum Corps to be waaayyy ahead of society at-large in terms of both diversity-inclusion, and that was 50 years ago. We knew who the gay kids were and it didn't matter. Everyone obviously knew who the minority kids were too and that didn't matter either. And by equity, do you mean in the context of opportunity or results? I understand why you feel as you do. Drum Corps has been its own worst enemy, but I still believe it's a great activity for the young. Warts and all. several staff members knew who they were too and preyed on them and bullied them into silence. 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg_orangecounty Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said: several staff members knew who they were too and preyed on them and bullied them into silence. Drum Corps has done a horrible job weeding those people out. One in particular is still celebrated. Edited April 22, 2023 by greg_orangecounty . 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scheherazadesghost Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 19 hours ago, MarimbaManiac said: Normalize being loud and persistent in the face of corruption, mismanagement, and dysfunction. sad trombone, the post of mine you've responded to is now hidden. 🤷🏽♀️ MAASIN or the law truly are the only options. I've exhausted all other channels, besides those painstakingly crafted by a few alum. Even those are incredibly delicate. Retaliation and censorship are never good signs. I retain testimony from more than one other alum that both are happening. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keystone3ply Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 (edited) Questions for @Richard Lesher, @scheherazadesghost, or any alumni with knowledge: 1) Who is in charge as acting CEO since 17 March, 2023? Is the CFO next in line according the the hierarchy of management flow chart? I don't think the BOD president can fulfill those duties. 2) Is the CFO also responsible for handling the payroll of the bingo operations? 3) Why can't bingo employees be paid from bingo funds? Not familiar with the regulations; is it a "conflict of interest" issue? I started researching as I was going to make a donation in honor of my fraternity brothers who march in the late 80s but I'm kind of reluctant at the moment. But I'm really hoping they survive & return in a much stronger version. But the way they are handling the PR side is just incredulous. Edited April 22, 2023 by keystone3ply cx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scheherazadesghost Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 (edited) 7 hours ago, keystone3ply said: I started researching as I was going to make a donation in honor of my fraternity brothers who march in the late 80s but I'm kind of reluctant at the moment. I'm already in hot water so I'll let someone else answer your questions. There are ways to make wise, responsible donations to orgs that are in the process of regaining public trust. Provide and request as much detail as possible. Provide full names, bios of your fraternity bros/my fellow alum, even images. Share that publicly if it feels appropriate. Then 1. provide as much detail about how you want the money to be spent as you can. The categories for VAA's fundraiser are food, housing, travel, and scholarships for the 2024 tour. If you have a more specific prospective allotment in mind, detail that. Or, 2. be their darling and tell them it's unrestricted, but require semi-regular updates. Then put in writing that you expect the required donor acknowledgement letter in a reasonable timeframe. Also, you can reach out to VAA or VMAPA and negotiate any of this directly. They don't bite. These are fundamental np donor safeguarding practices. And to be completely fair, they often require a lot of people power. Every successful np I've been with has a dedicated role or two just for donor cultivation. It's what today's responsible donors demand when competition is stiff. Edited April 22, 2023 by scheherazadesghost typos 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IllianaLancerContra Posted April 22, 2023 Share Posted April 22, 2023 56 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said: sad trombone, the post of mine you've responded to is now hidden. 🤷🏽♀️ MAASIN or the law truly are the only options. I've exhausted all other channels, besides those painstakingly crafted by a few alum. Even those are incredibly delicate. Retaliation and censorship are never good signs. I retain testimony from more than one other alum that both are happening. To the Mods: Why are you removing highly relevant posts? If you are not part of the solution, the you are part of the problem To SG: Looked at MAASIN, not much new stuff there. Perhaps put your highly relevant information there? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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