One of the country's most celebrated marching band's director has been fired after a two-month investigation uncovered "serious cultural issues and an environment conducive to sexual harassment" among the students, Ohio State University's announced on Thursday. The Columbus Dispatch, which first reported Jonathan Waters' firing, said the "sexual culture" has existed for several years.
The investigation was launched after a parent raised concerns two months ago that the "Pride of the Buckeyes" was sexualized, claiming the members were made to swear secrecy oaths about "objectionable traditions and customs," one that Waters allegedly failed to stop or confront, ABC News reported. The rituals allegedly included students marching in their underwear, being addressed by explicit nicknames and performing sexually-charged skits.
The details of the investigation are laid out in an extensive 23-page report, which describes a long list of sexually-charged situations, CBS News reported. Band members were pressured to march up their stadium's ramp in their underwear. Upperclassmen gave raunchy nicknames to new members, who were often ordered to assume sexually suggestive poses. They were given sex surveys, dubbed "rookie midterms," and told to walk down the aisle of their tour bus while other students tried to remove their clothing. "When everybody told you to get down to your underwear you weren't exactly sure what was going on," said former marching band member Jason Miaw. "We try to keep it hidden around parents and in public."
Ohio State President Michael Drake said he acted after being "profoundly disappointed and shocked" by the findings that began before his arrival, USA Today reported. "This is 2014, and we respect our students as young adults," Drake said. "We respect women, and we respect all the different people who work with us. We respect that diversity. We just had to make a square-wave change between this report, which was unacceptable, and the future, which we start today."
"Nothing is more important than the safety of our students," Drake said in a statement. "We expect every member of our community to live up to a common standard of decency and mutual respect and to adhere to university policies.
"Moving forward, we must abide by a zero tolerance policy at the University-both with the Marching Band and the entire campus community-for any behavior that creates a hostile culture at Ohio State. I view this as a new day and an opportunity for the Ohio State community to come together and embrace the values and behavior that have made this University great."
Waters, who has served as director since October 2012 and was an interim director, assistant director and graduate assistant before then, admitted witnessing some of the questionable behavior, but told investigators that he was open to making drastic changes.
However, most of the things the report touches on has occurred years or decades before Waters became director, his attorney told CBS News, adding that Waters plans to take legal action.
