By: BuckeyeParent

BuckeyeParent
Sat, 24 Jan 2015 14:48:56 +0000

SeekTU_Buckeye’s long homily falls flat because it is simply founded on a false premise – that there existed a hostile atmosphere in the Band. I suspect he/she reaches this profundity from a distance, because for anyone who has been closer to TBDBITL nothing could be further from the truth. As a parent of a female Band member, and someone with more than a little experience of the OSU environment, the reality is almost the exact opposite. For a female college freshman, TBDBITL could be a very intimidating organization, but she was immediately made welcome, given all the encouragement and support needed, and never at any time made to feel uncomfortable. It was made very clear that the Midnight Ramp was an entirely optional celebration, that she need not participate, and that if she did she should wear whatever she was comfortable with. SeekTU still does not understand the basic purpose of the Midnight Ramp, in spite of all the information about it that is now public, and with which Betty Montgomery clearly agrees. The friends my daughter made in the Band remain her closest friends to this day. They supported her when she battled illness, took care of notifying instructors, brought her class assignments, and so on. This is not the “culture” that would be fostered by a climate of sexual harassment and hostility, and simply serves to illustrate the ignorance of such a misconception.

Jon Waters was eradicating the remaining vestiges of practices that dated back decades. He was, however, one full-time staff member, with just one full time associate director, responsible for 225 students, a group twice the size of the football team that SeekTU cites. There were no compliance staff, medical staff, or academic support staff employed for the Band, and Waters was responsible for designing and presenting seven full half time shows, plus all the pre-game and other associated performance of a Band that is the gold standard of college marching bands. It would be fascinating to see our football program operate with such a level of support – I fear the result would not be pretty.

SeekTU makes much of a comparison with Jim Tressel. What he forgets is that Tressel was not fired because a few of his players fell foul of the NCAA for trading their own memorabilia for tattoos, but because he knowingly concealed their behavior when it should have been reported, and was untruthful when asked about what he knew. That is a wholly different from how Waters handled the two incidents described in the “Report”, and so the analogy with TBDBITL simply does not hold.

The fact remains that OSU acted without conscience or scruple in using Jon Waters and TBDBITL to alleviate their Title IX sanctions from the Department of Education, none of which had anything to do with the Band. Nor have the administration and Trustees shown any real concern to improve conditions in the Band – if they really were determined to make changes for the better there would have been all the necessary support staff put in place. Instead they have treated the members of the Band like middle school children, with the stick and not the carrot, with the result that an abnormally large number of the current Band are choosing not to return for next year (unless Waters would be reinstated). I’m sure that SeekTU will say “good riddance” to that, but it will help nothing, and simply compromise the ability of the Band to perform to the standards that ti has set. That benefits no one.