The Cadets are being sued by a former member for alleged sexual abuse in the 80s

[skevinp]

2 hours ago, DAYGO said:

So it looks like my son may have marched in the last Cadets season ever.   Who would have known? 

It seems like far more innocent people than guilty people are punished.

[scheherazadesghost]

1 hour ago, OldSnareDrummer said:

I can somewhat understand CAE's legal position, however, there's legal responsibility and then there's moral responsibility too. This "It didn't happen on my watch" defense is a little lame IMO.  

I've heard it before with my own corps. It's infuriating.

More than a few survivors out there deserve better.

1 hour ago, DWW11 said:

Angry.  Furious.  As with SCV, i will sit back and watch what unfolds.  But, and this may seem crass, but I don’t mean it to: does this mean that $$ i donated when they announced a suspension of the 2024 season, $$ i donated to help them get back on their feet, are actually going to be used to defend them for this??? THAT makes me ill.  
and now i am afraid to donate to ANY corps.

Fair. To reiterate, it's really important that donors consider only giving to "restricted funds" at this point. Tell the orgs where you want the money to go, when you can expect your letter in the mail, and when you can expect to hear back about how the money was spent. Healthy nonprofits do this all day every day. Giving to unrestricted funds at this point is not reliable. Orgs need to demonstrate consistently, over an extended period of time, that they can uphold the basic tenants of ethical donor cultivation.

[DWW11]

3 minutes ago, scheherazadesghost said:Giving to unrestricted funds at this point is not reliable. Orgs need to demonstrate consistently, over an extended period of time, that they can uphold the basic tenants of ethical donor cultivation.

I get it, Ghost.  And you are right, of course.  But it’s come to the point where I don’t believe they will actually use my $$ as i direct.  If they can be this careless and indifferent with actual human beings, why would they follow ANY rules?  I don’t want to get off topic any further, so i think i will just go back to lurking.

[Richard Lesher]

1 hour ago, DWW11 said:

Angry.  Furious.  As with SCV, i will sit back and watch what unfolds.  But, and this may seem crass, but I don’t mean it to: does this mean that $$ i donated when they announced a suspension of the 2024 season, $$ i donated to help them get back on their feet, are actually going to be used to defend them for this??? THAT makes me ill.  
and now i am afraid to donate to ANY corps.

That's probably where the money is going. 

But you know, they were not registered as a charity so they shouldn't have been asking for donations.

The upside is they are on the IRS's list of approved non profits. SO when you put in their tax ID on your own return as a deductible it will not cause a red flag. 

[JimF-LowBari]

17 minutes ago, skevinp said:

It seems like far more innocent people than guilty people are punished.

Which is often the case when things like this happen in a group.

And what struck me in the statement is making sure people know CAE was not running the corps (ok not the name used) when this happen. What legal CYA mandated this?

Edited November 8, 2023 by JimF-LowBari

[scheherazadesghost]

10 minutes ago, DWW11 said:

I get it, Ghost.  And you are right, of course.  But it’s come to the point where I don’t believe they will actually use my $$ as i direct.  If they can be this careless and indifferent with actual human beings, why would they follow ANY rules?  I don’t want to get off topic any further, so i think i will just go back to lurking.

I think your concern is legit and relevant but would never compel you to speak further if it makes you uncomfortable.

FYI: not following the stipulations of a restricted donation could result in financial penalties or loss of nonprofit status. It's a very serious violation.

[HockeyDad]

25 minutes ago, skevinp said:

It seems like far more innocent people than guilty people are punished.

That does tend to be the nature of things unfortunately. 

[HockeyDad]

12 minutes ago, JimF-LowBari said:

Which is often the case when things like this happen in a group.

And what struck me in the statement is making sure people know CAE was not running the corps (ok not the name used) when this happen. What legal CYA mandated this?

Maybe they should stop releasing statements. At this point they are just cringeworthy.  

[greg_orangecounty]

2 hours ago, DAYGO said:

So it looks like my son may have marched in the last Cadets season ever.   Who would have known? 

If Garfield's last year was 2023 it won't be because of this pending litigation.  

[Richard Lesher]

7 hours ago, HockeyDad said:

Just irritating on so many levels. Not the least of which the veil being dropped on this activity I participated in and loved since I was a teenager. I feel betrayed in some way. Is that a valid feeling?

Yes, it is actually. 

I walked away from my years of marching as the most influential event in my life.

Then some 15 years later I became part of the oversight of such an organization and tried to make the message we project to the kids the same one we conducted ourselves as a professional organization. 

I walked away from my years on the board with a feeling of having done the most productive thing in my life. 

********************

Then this time last year it all started to unravel. Behind the scenes is a group of people that have vastly conflicting personal agendas and motivations divergent of the mission objectives of the Corps and DCI. 

So few of us actually have the experience of having been instructed by individuals we can look up to, and CONTINUE to look up to decades later (presuming they don't have dark secrets that are now popping up). 

People are attacking myself and Ghost. Oh you toxic folks will never be on the boards. That's right. The risk is astronomical now. 

If I was handed $10M every single year forever I don't see how a perfect pervert free well run Drum Corps could be built from the ground up. Where are these people? There are a few of them out there, but certainly not enough to staff an entire corps let alone all of DCI. 

We used to look up to the field technical staff who lorded over us young teenagers, but the hard reality of life is many of those losers didn't have a plan of where to live and sleep past DCI finals. These are not people we should be looking up to. Many of them latch onto the fact they have a ripe young population ready to follow. That observation plowed over me like a train when I was in Army Basic Training at the age of 39. The young soldiers were so compliant to be indoctrinated by the Drill SGT's. 

**************

The Member Corps really need to look deep at the problems, but I think they are infiltrated by too many offenders and enablers, because for too many the championships are the priority, or the willingness to protect a target rich environment for predators is too enticing.