Former Southwind member - still active in drum corps - accusations of abuse

[scheherazadesghost]

I cannot stress enough that while official whistleblower channels can be accessed, they have all failed in my case and in those of the survivors who have shared their reports with me. The vast majority of leadership handling whistleblowing lack the training necessary to prevent re-traumatization of victim-survivors.

Victim-survivors and their allies should always go to the police in the jurisdiction of the event/s first. I cannot stress enough how broken DCI's current whistleblower systems are in that they have already re-traumatized survivors. Those attempting to leverage such whistleblower systems should be prepared for this and limit their expectations for support or follow through.

Other groups that may provide additional support include:

RAINN, Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network: https://www.rainn.org/

The Army of Survivors: https://thearmyofsurvivors.org/

Courage First Athlete's Helpline: https://www.athletehelpline.org/

MAASIN, Marching Arts Access, Safety and Inclusion Network: https://www.maasin.net/

 

[IllianaLancerContra]

2 hours ago, scheherazadesghost said:

I cannot stress enough that while official whistleblower channels can be accessed, they have all failed in my case and in those of the survivors who have shared their reports with me. The vast majority of leadership handling whistleblowing lack the training necessary to prevent re-traumatization of victim-survivors.

Victim-survivors and their allies should always go to the police in the jurisdiction of the event/s first. I cannot stress enough how broken DCI's current whistleblower systems are in that they have already re-traumatized survivors. Those attempting to leverage such whistleblower systems should be prepared for this and limit their expectations for support or follow through.

Other groups that may provide additional support include:

RAINN, Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network: https://www.rainn.org/

The Army of Survivors: https://thearmyofsurvivors.org/

Courage First Athlete's Helpline: https://www.athletehelpline.org/

MAASIN, Marching Arts Access, Safety and Inclusion Network: https://www.maasin.net/

 

So, if individual was removed from MC for cause (which was right thing to do), how did they end up at SW?   

[scheherazadesghost]

1 hour ago, IllianaLancerContra said:

So, if individual was removed from MC for cause (which was right thing to do), how did they end up at SW?   

Upon perusing the staff, they're not the only one I'm concerned about for a variety of reasons.

But nevermind me. None of my fellow alum will speak up so I'm just a crazy rumor lady.

Edited June 27, 2023 by scheherazadesghost

[C.Holland]

Time to call maasin, and a lawyer. 

[scheherazadesghost]

1 hour ago, C.Holland said:

Time to call maasin, and a lawyer. 

Indeed. These folks may be able to help: https://www.victimscivilattorneys.com/drum-corps-international-fails-to-protect-students/

But if/when any one of these resources fails to provide appropriate mental health support, a licensed mental health professional specializing in the care of victims of abuse may be of the utmost importance. We are also called survivors for a reason... some of us don't. (Not directed at either of you, just giving info.)

RAINN and Courage First are the best options for immediate mental health triage.

We trusted these corps...

[scheherazadesghost]

This individual has been removed from the Southwind staff page.

[IllianaLancerContra]

11 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

This individual has been removed from the Southwind staff page.

I wonder how he was hired in first place.  Did SW contact previous Corps; if so did previous Corps pass on concerns?   
 

More philosophical question is how many staff were not hired by any given Corps based on a reference or background check?   Not the kind of statistic that you can easily track (or perhaps even should track).  

[C.Holland]

On 6/27/2023 at 10:14 PM, IllianaLancerContra said:

I wonder how he was hired in first place.  Did SW contact previous Corps; if so did previous Corps pass on concerns?   
 

More philosophical question is how many staff were not hired by any given Corps based on a reference or background check?   Not the kind of statistic that you can easily track (or perhaps even should track).  

Background checks?  I mean let’s be honest.  This is a REACTIVE activity.  (Think of every issue you’ve heard about over the past 20 years from staff or admin issues, health concerns, care and feeding issues… etc) nothing is ever fixed until it’s brought to light and even then, it’s weeks or months (or in some cases decades) until things are sort of fixed.
 

This isn’t new info that what’s scribbled on paper and what happens in reality are not equal.  Open class you need staff. And you have nothing but beans and handshakes to pay in. So sometimes you take what you can get and then deal with other issues later. Yes, this is unfortunate, and in perfect world wouldn’t happen, but in groups of mostly volunteer admin looking for staff to work for volunteer money…

 

I would guess it’s likely that either much of this wasn’t known (see also not presented by the individual) and due diligence wasn’t done (until the history surfaced), OR some of it was presented and a half ###ed screening happened and it boiled down to “can this person do the job AND not be a repeat offender?”   Which then once it all came out this turned into the “get them outta here” situation and hope it goes away without too much fuss. 
 

I’ll give SW the benefit of the doubt and say that I’d like to believe that the individual likely didn’t tell SW everything that would exclude themselves from working there.  But again, that’s hoping for the best from people. 
 

 

and yes, it’s absolute bull###t that this is state of the activity. We should all want it to be better. And those who run it shouldn’t need a ######g invitation to be better, or a news story to realize “do your GD background checks”.  Seriously.  It’s a youth activity, get it together ######. 

Edited June 29, 2023 by C.Holland

[scheherazadesghost]

Feeling extreme gratitude for those young victim-survivors in the reddit thread that asked questions about what to do. And then did it.

Also wishing them some semblance of peace knowing that their direct action led to swift results, even if late.

May we all find such swift justice, assuming it lasts. My fellow alum across the age spectrum could maybe learn something from the young folks.

[BigW]

On 6/27/2023 at 10:14 PM, IllianaLancerContra said:

I wonder how he was hired in first place.  Did SW contact previous Corps; if so did previous Corps pass on concerns?   
 

More philosophical question is how many staff were not hired by any given Corps based on a reference or background check?   Not the kind of statistic that you can easily track (or perhaps even should track).  

A very fair question. The scary thing is that most people who end up convicted of these sorts of crimes had clean background checks when they were hired. I believe that here in Pennsylvania there were fewer than 10 individuals that were red flagged though the PA Act 34/151/88 (PA State Police/Child Welfare/FBI fingerprints) process at one point and that was after several years of it being in place. It does serve as a deterrent to convicted perps, but not to those without any record.

 

If someone wasn't convicted.... if anything was passed on in writing, it could result in legal action from the individual. A non-recorded discussion where someone says that it wouldn't be a very good idea to hire someone based on their tenure with their organization should be some kind of a red flag in today's world.

 

Going further, if someone gave a glowing recommendation for any individual knowing that they behaved inappropriately with corps members, there's a special place in hell for them.

Edited July 12, 2023 by BigW