"Trial starts in marching band hazing death" Associated Press October 28, 2014
ORLANDO, Fla. — A member of the Florida A&M University marching band went on trial Monday on charges of felony hazing and manslaughter.
The trials of three band members were postponed until April. But the trial of a fourth began with jury selection, nearly three years after drum major Robert Champion died from being beaten.
********
Champion, of Decatur, Ga., died from what authorities say was a hazing ritual in November 2011.
His death has put a spotlight on a hazing ritual at FAMU known as ‘‘crossing Bus C,’’ and caused the band — which had played at the Super Bowl and before US presidents — to be suspended for more than a year.
It also contributed to the resignation of the university’s president.
Hours after a football game in Orlando, band members boarded Bus C parked outside a hotel.
They pummeled Champion, 26, and two other band members as they tried to wade their way through a pounding gauntlet of fists, drumsticks, and mallets from the front to the back of the bus.
After making it to the back, Champion vomited and complained of trouble breathing. He soon fell unconscious and could not be revived.
He died from hemorrhagic shock and his autopsy showed extensive internal bleeding.
--more--"
Also see:
Prosecutor: Former band member organized hazing
Witnesses say Florida A&M hazing suspect led ritual on bus
Related: Florida Bullies
"Ohio State says fired band director was dishonest" ASSOCIATED PRESS OCTOBER 24, 2014
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State University’s fired band director handled more sexually charged incidents than previously reported, proposed punishing a female band member who reported sexual assault, and had a calendar of nearly nude male band members in his office that he never brought to investigators’ attention, school attorneys said in response to his federal lawsuit.
In continuing to defend Jonathan Waters’s firing in July, the university said he repeatedly concealed the culture of the band from outsiders and misled university officials.
Waters sued for reinstatement last month, accusing the university, president Michael Drake, and a provost of discrimination by disciplining him differently than a female employee and denying him due process.
The university seeks dismissal of the suit, including on grounds Waters was an at-will employee who could be fired for any reason. It also argues Waters can’t validly argue gender discrimination as a member of the male majority.
Waters had led the celebrated band since 2012. The halftime shows he created were considered revolutionary. Videos of the dancing images the band creates on the field have drawn hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube.
--more--"
Related: And the Band Stopped Marching
