April 27, 2020
ATHENS, Ohio — Ohio University lifted the cease and desist on the Marching 110 on March 2 after nearly five months of restrictions. Following a wave of hazing allegations against student groups, the band was the second to last organization to learn of its investigation outcomes.
According to the executive summary from the Office of Community Standards and Student Responsibility, investigators identified unsanctioned traditions and concerning behaviors within the band, particularly in specific sections. None of those behaviors, however, caused physical harm to students.
Initial incident reports filed to CSSR included allegations of alcohol use and distribution, violence and coercive behavior, according to Taylor Tackett, director of the CSSR. The six reports filed throughout fall semester prompted a limited cease and desist on the band Oct. 10 — the Thursday before homecoming.
Allan Dalton, a former band manager who graduated after fall semester, reflected on how the decision’s timing affected the historically festive weekend.
“It was very dark, very solemn — it was like the Grinch stole Christmas that week,” Dalton said over a video call. “During homecoming, there are dozens, if not more, band families that get together. They get to meet their grandlittles, their great-great-grandlittles, and share stories … [Freshmen] were denied that experience this year, they don’t know their family trees.”
A limited cease and desist meant the band could still meet for supervised practices and performances, as those are university-sanctioned and carry academic credit for students. However, the duration of the suspension was far from limited; almost two months passed before the investigation formally began. Tackett noted the unprecedented number of misconduct reports during fall semester as a factor.
“CSSR has four staff members that serve as lead investigators and oversee this process; we facilitated 17 investigations in about eight weeks,” Tackett wrote in an email. “We weighed many factors when determining the order of investigations … Because of the size and scope of the [Marching] 110 organization, we scheduled them to be investigated last.”
Yet those details were unknown to band members, prompting a sentiment that students were being indirectly punished by a perceived sluggishness from CSSR.
“We didn’t hear anything for months, until the week before finals — one of the most stressful weeks of the entire semester — when they decided that they were going to actually do the investigation,” Dalton said. “The fact that they completely restricted all social, outside-of-band events to zero during the entire time was really frustrating.”
According to a timetable presented by Dalton, band members with 15 credit hours of coursework have hardly 20 hours of free time in a given week. Many of those hours come late in the evening or at other inconvenient times.
“You get a job, there go those hours … And when are you expected to make friends outside of band? You’re spending 39 hours a week with people that you know you can count on,” Dalton said. “Now you can’t hang out with them, now you can’t talk to them, now you can’t relieve stress … Several of my band members were incredibly depressed.”
Tackett affirmed that CSSR was in contact with the student leader and professional staff of the Marching 110 throughout those weeks, indicating that communication issues may have been rooted within the band itself.
“Our office sent several communications during this period as well as held a meeting with the field commander to review our process,” Tackett wrote. “We also responded to multiple emails sent to us and walk-in conversations from students in the Marching 110.”
Beginning Dec. 2, investigators met with 117 students and seven staff members selected at random. The meetings typically lasted 45 minutes and were facilitated by two university investigators. Freshman Aubrey Beaty shared her distress regarding questions about traditions that she had never experienced firsthand.
“They asked me questions that I had no idea any of the answers to, like ‘Have you heard rumors about this?’ … It was just really frustrating,” Beaty said in a video call. “My interviewers were really nice, though.”
Nearly two more months passed as CSSR addressed its findings with the Office of the Provost and the College of Fine Arts. According to Tackett, the groups then decided that the College of Fine Arts should handle the case’s resolution, citing the “nuanced challenges” of behavioral expectations imposed by a syllabus.
“At this time, [the outcome] isn’t finalized, but CSSR did make recommendations in the executive summary,” Tackett wrote. “CSSR will continue to partner with COFA to ensure that the Marching 110 are the most exciting band in the land.”
On Feb. 13, Tackett and the CSSR sent the executive summary of investigation to former Provost Chaden Djalali, the College of Fine Arts, and the Marching 110. A handful of organization-wide, unsanctioned behaviors were disclosed in the memo, including the underage consumption of alcohol, the use of marijuana on the band bus, and insufficient measures by upperclassmen to prevent such uses. Witnesses reported, however, that no one was forced to consume either substance in any activity.
A wider range of unsanctioned traditions were identified within particular sections of the band. One section planned mysterious events designed “to confuse and disorient the new members.” Another section had been holding their own, unsupervised version of the “coat conditioning” tradition featuring mud wrestling. In a different section, older students had long been hosting pornography viewings without alerting younger members before their arrival.
Regardless of the virtue of such activities, as expressed by Dalton and confirmed by the investigation summary, participation was always voluntary.
“The [section leader] would make it very clear to everyone attending that ‘This is what’s happening, this is what’s going to go on.’ Everything’s completely optional, if you don’t like it, you can leave. You don’t show up at all if you don’t want to,” Dalton said.
State law only identifies hazing as coercion within an organization “that creates a substantial risk of causing mental or physical harm to any person.” Moreover, the university hazing policy condemns acts of sexual misconduct and intent to cause mental stress. Yet due to the absence of coercion within the band, many of the unsanctioned behaviors do not qualify as hazing.
Nonetheless, such activities conflict with cultural expectations laid out by the syllabus, the university, and the law. As such, CSSR shared its findings with the Ohio University Police Department and recommended the College of Fine Arts conduct a full membership review, with removal of individual students in accordance with the syllabus.
Beginning Feb. 17, students were evaluated based on their commitments to culture change. Only seven of the band’s 222 members were recommended for disaffiliation — in all cases, for failure to attend the required review meeting. Others, including Beaty, were labeled as future hazing risks and will be subject to further preventative education.
“[My interviewer] just kept lecturing me about how I needed to be open to change,” Beaty said. “I never said I wasn’t, but then I ended up being one of the people who was ‘OK but needed extra education.’”
Some reported traditions remain sanctioned and were not deemed problematic — most notably, the annual coat conditioning tradition. Under the supervision of Band Director Richard Suk, new members may choose to muddy their jackets to resemble the weathered jackets of older members. However, the tradition was yet another experience taken away by the suspension.
“This tradition has been going on for well over 50 years … to make sure that no person was singled out; we’re all one band, one family, one group,” Dalton said. “Most of the family that’s still in the band shows up, and there’s a lot of bonding experience between bigs and littles during that time.”
It wasn’t long after the cease and desist was ordered that students began to worry about the futures of their cherished traditions. Yet even after an unprecedented fall semester, Tackett believes that healthy tradition is essential to campus life.
“The reality is that tradition is important and can be fun. I think we all need to reflect and think more on power-based violence,” Tackett wrote. “When we ask new members to do something that we aren’t doing as active members, we should pause and ask: ‘Why are we making them do that? Does it help us to safely convey our values? Will someone get hurt? Could this make someone feel uncomfortable?’”
As bystanders increasingly crack down on unacceptable behaviors, Tackett and the CSSR are utilizing the Hazing Prevention Task Force to gain feedback from students and create effective hazing prevention training. Meanwhile, the College of Fine Arts agreed to assemble a committee for syllabus revision, training implementation and the examination of traditions within the Marching 110.
Yet in the face of this major cultural evolution, Dalton believes students have remained positive, cooperative and open to change.
“The biggest thing for us right now is to make sure that there is a band going forward,” Dalton said. “This has been an organization for almost 60 years, and there’s a lot of history, there’s a lot of tradition, there’s a lot of family that you don’t get with most organizations. We want to keep that going for future generations.”