The Staff Merry-go-round

[contraguard05]

1 minute ago, Zeke said:

Oh wow I didn't know Kuhn still worked over there. I Remember it was Campbell/Kuhn for many a year.

My understanding is this was his first year back. I have a feeling they want to hang on to him.

[NewToPosting]

 

22 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:

Sometimes making a stink publicly is the only way, like it or not, and these folks have to be willing to sacrifice job security to make their voices heard if they want to push for change.

It. Really. Sucks.

Totally agree!

Have there been rules proposals or requested goals to be set to increase diversity in judge's panels? Was the CD or some other representative approached and asked to bring this up in DCI meetings? Was an open letter to DCI's board written, encouraging diversity in judge hires? Was the Diversity & Inclusion team from WGI consulted about how to get one started at DCI?

I'm not suggesting these things didn't happen, just that there are pragmatic avenues to pursue. If all those avenues had been attempted, then their post might well have been needed. 

Edited August 22, 2023 by NewToPosting
Fixed "represented" to representative.

[scheherazadesghost]

7 minutes ago, Grandpa Joe said:

I don't think it was about nonbinary inclusion, because the word "racist" was used. However, that said, the behavior that was on display was/is absolutely toxic no matter how you look at it. It's just not the way to approach the topic/discussion. There were people of color on panels all season long. They're not the majority, but there are reasons behind that. The fact is the activity, while inclusive, is also exclusive. The majority of people of color in this country cannot afford luxuries, which let's face it, the marching arts are a luxury. That is fact. It's not needed to survive. How can we expect to have more diversity on the field, let alone on the panel, when the activity isn't accessible for all walks of life?

I teach at a rural school, where the medium income for a family of 4 is below $20,000. I see kids walk away from the arts because their families can't afford it, which is why we don't do extravagant shows, so we can keep show costs down as much as possible. We charge a fee of $250, which can be fundraised, and more times than not is how the majority of our kids pay for their fees. We have kids of all walks of life, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc. The majority of these kids will go on to have careers outside of the marching arts. Why? Because the likelihood of making a livable wage in the arts isn't high. 

My point is, there are so many variables when it comes to the inclusiveness in drum corps and the marching arts as a whole, that we can't narrow it down to just nonbinary or certain ethnicities not being welcome or represented in the activity.

And with that, I will bow out from this topic at hand, because I know someone is going to have something to negative to say.

I do wish this were a place where I felt safe being in dialogue with you publicly about this, as I think we could have a pretty cool dialogue about it. Nothing negative here in response, but I will take it to DMs.

[Brass of the South]

If there’s anything I’ve learned from working in this activity, posting in that manner, especially something as unprofessional as blocking a past employer, makes it very difficult to be hired in the future. Best of luck to them.

[scheherazadesghost]

Just now, NewToPosting said:

Totally agree!

Have there been rules proposals or requested goals to be set to increase diversity in judge's panels? Was the CD or some other represented approached and asked to bring this up in DCI meetings? Was an open letter to DCI's board written, encouraging diversity in judge hires? Was the Diversity & Inclusion team from WGI consulted about how to get one started at DCI?

I'm not suggesting these things didn't happen, just that there are pragmatic avenues to pursue. If all those avenues had been attempted, then their post might well have been needed. 

The largest action taken on the part of DCI was the JDI (Judging Diversity Initiative) that started last spring, but there haven't been any public updates about it.

Here's where the rub is though, often across much of JEDI/DEI work: @Grandpa Joe raises important points about access to the luxury of participating in drum corps. Because of this alone, asking marginalized/vulnerable groups to do all of this additional unpaid work is a lot. This is often in addition to unacceptable treatment endured already in the workplace. Does it need to happen anyway? YES! Otherwise how will the activity get better? But it shouldn't be expected or demanded before people from these groups get frustrated and speak out on their own platforms with their own voices. If this person blocked their former employer, could it be (just possibly) because they endured treatment similar to those in my reports? IDK.

That said, I don't know the nature of the person in question or the nature of their public voice. I'm speaking broadly from my experiences in other fields.

[Zeke]

9 minutes ago, contraguard05 said:

My understanding is this was his first year back. I have a feeling they want to hang on to him.

That would definitely be a great thing.

[NewToPosting]

1 minute ago, scheherazadesghost said:

The largest action taken on the part of DCI was the JDI (Judging Diversity Initiative) that started last spring, but there haven't been any public updates about it.

Here's where the rub is though, often across much of JEDI/DEI work: @Grandpa Joe raises important points about access to the luxury of participating in drum corps. Because of this alone, asking marginalized/vulnerable groups to do all of this additional unpaid work is a lot. This is often in addition to unacceptable treatment endured already in the workplace. Does it need to happen anyway? YES! Otherwise how will the activity get better? But it shouldn't be expected or demanded before people from these groups get frustrated and speak out on their own platforms with their own voices. If this person blocked their former employer, could it be (just possibly) because they endured treatment similar to those in my reports? IDK.

That said, I don't know the nature of the person in question or the nature of their public voice. I'm speaking broadly from my experiences in other fields.

I wasn't aware about JDI. That's how quiet it's been (I don't do all the socials, but I come in here from time to time and subscribe to FloMarching - was formerly a staff member, now just a fan of DCI, so I wouldn't say I'm "in the know" but I'm also not "on the fringe").

I totally agree with the message they tried to send. I understand enough to know that I won't be able to comprehend the frustration they must feel because I haven't walked in their shoes. That's moreso the reason I don't want them to be their own enemy, because theirs is a voice and an experience that has a place in this activity.

It's propelling us to talk about it, so a dialogue WAS started - at least there's that!

[Euph74]

Full staff listing is still there.

https://cavaliers.org/corps-staff
 

What is the source of the Keith Tye news?

[GREENBLUE]

24 minutes ago, contraguard05 said:

Kuhn is the only instructional/creative staff member I see on the website.

I see the full staff still listed

[kdaddy]

13 minutes ago, NewToPosting said:

Have there been rules proposals or requested goals to be set to increase diversity in judge's panels? Was the CD or some other representative approached and asked to bring this up in DCI meetings? Was an open letter to DCI's board written, encouraging diversity in judge hires?

I don't know about goals, but anecdotally, during finals week, there was an interview on the big screen with three "future DCI judges" who participated in training this season. If memory serves, they were one black guy and two white women. I'm not suggesting we've solved DEI, but it was nice to see.

I feel that several of the corps are becoming more diverse, especially among instructional staff and instructional leadership positions. I'm hoping that trend continues to design staffs as well.