What is wrong with US?

[Terri Schehr]

1 minute ago, MarimbaManiac said:

That's fine, usually the people making the most noise have the thickest skin. 

I just want to point out the issue with being "morally opposed" to something but balking at the practicality of forcing change is incredibly destructive. 

I’m personally flameproof. But the younger ones… they’re not quite so weathered.  It’s probably a little tougher for them.  That’s why they wait until they’re older to share their stories. 

[jthomas666]

1 hour ago, Jeff Ream said:

you've driven our roads. we win ( or lose depending on your POV)

Heh.  Did grad school at Penn State; when driving up from Alabama, I never needed a sign to let me know when I crossed from Maryland into PA.

[Jeff Ream]

13 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

You’re right but the thing is that when you stick your neck out there, you are sometimes harassed, ostracized, and threatened. Been there, done that.  Read the Tricia Nadolny articles. 

or black balled

[Jeff Ream]

4 minutes ago, jthomas666 said:

Heh.  Did grad school at Penn State; when driving up from Alabama, I never needed a sign to let me know when I crossed from Maryland into PA.

still don't. WE ARE ( still horrible roads)

[TenHut]

Reach out to the Scouts senior leaders and let us know how that turns out. 

[scheherazadesghost]

1 hour ago, 2000Cadet said:

Have the postings about SCV's troubles led to changes within their org? I'm asking because I don't know, not to be an a-hole. 

Yes, they improved the mechanics of their whistleblowing system; allowed a meeting between myself and board regarding safeguarding so they're mostly aware that I've gathered the testimony of 16 alum with 60 instances of abuse over the decades; and have pledged transparency FWIW. Further, they shared my open letter internally with the staff during spring training of the 22 season. Lastly, they also stated that they are receptive to receiving evidence of retaliation should I encounter any. Have documentation of all of this.

I won't share other things I'm aware of because I don't actually share everything. But yes, there have been changes.

If nothing else, they're on notice that a growing number of critical alumni are watching and scrutinizing them quietly and vocally. If there were nothing else, I'd be fine with that too. But there is.

Because, and I don't know why this is so difficult for the drum corps community to grasp, public and stakeholder scrutiny is supposed to be baked into the nonprofit mechanism. Drum corps pushback to scrutiny is the outlier here. Not the scrutiny itself. If you had evidence that your beloved corps was risking is own future, wouldn't it be your love for them that drove you to take action?

And as I said in the now shuttered thread, none of you know the other steps whistleblowers have taken just because you've read what they say on social media. In fact, it would endanger most of them to list out the steps they've taken. So to assume they haven't taken the steps you deem appropriate is oddly both hurtful and futile.

Edited October 25, 2023 by scheherazadesghost
typos

[greg_orangecounty]

I feel their interests are self-serving and self-promotion under the guise of "helping others" and they really don't care about the activity at all. 

And the block feature this website has fixes everything.  If it didn't exist, I'd have to double my Lisinopril dosage. 

[scheherazadesghost]

1 hour ago, MarimbaManiac said:

Stop shooting the messenger. 

In response to others: yeah, whistleblowers and survivors have so much to gain personally from the actions we take to bring info to the light. Besides, is so much fun! (/sarcasm for those who need it)

C'mon now.

[HockeyDad]

1 hour ago, MarimbaManiac said:

So, you acknowledge that there are problems that need to be addressed, and in later posts acknowledge that other avenues for fixing those issues have been attempted, yet you complain when people trying to bring those issues to light?

Let's be clear about something. When there are systemic issues in an organization, and that organization is unwilling to even ACKNOWLEDGE them yet alone address them, there are two options. Let it be, or dig further and shine a spotlight. The problem, as you put it, is that for decades people were too comfortable with, or encouraged by others, to stay quiet and let things be. There was too much willingness to overlook clearly serious issues for "the health of the activity" or "out of respect for the organization." It bred a toxic environment where issues were allowed to fester, and whistleblowers were declared to be the problem because it was "too messy."

Frankly, the people who want change, but refuse to get their hands dirty, are the worst offenders of this story. They cry foul enough to make it seem like they're engaged and offended, but are actually more offended by the heavy handed processes that are required to force change in intransigent organizations. In my opinion, they are the ones who are doing the most damage to the activity, because they're too "grossed out" by the dirty work that they allow corruption and incompetence to continue, even when that results in very real negative effects on the marching members and staff. 

If SCV, or Cadets, or SOA, or whomever is refusing to acknowledge their systemic issues, then THEY are the ones who have destroyed the reputation of the organization. THEY are the ones who brought this upon themselves, and THEY are the only parties responsible for their unwillingness or inability to get their houses in order. It is NOT the people who have been bringing up these issues quietly for years, only to be dismissed or ignored. It's NOT the people working to uncover and bring to light these issues, and it's NOT the people amplifying the message that a house cleaning is in order. 

The organizations being ripped apart, brought this on themselves, and they only have themselves to blame. Stop shooting the messenger. 

 

 

Beautifully written.  It’s a weird thing - I would expect to get a sense of humility coming from SCV and Cadets leadership teams. Instead it feels like we’re getting attitude. 

[MarimbaManiac]

1 minute ago, scheherazadesghost said:

In response to others: yeah, whistleblowers and survivors have so much to gain personally from the actions we take to bring info to the light. Besides, is so much fun! (/sarcasm for those who need it)

C'mon now.

Some people can't remove themselves from the mindset that "quiet" is synonymous with "good" and that "loud" is never acceptable. I mean this without any disrespect, but it seems to be a generational issue (this is backed up by a lot of psychiatric research, so don't come for me).