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H 21°, L 6°In a personal and confidential letter dated Oct. 3, University of Wisconsin Chancellor John Wiley warned UW Marching Band Director Michael Leckrone the group could face "virtual extinction" if any further incidents of severe misconduct arise.
The Oct. 3 letter, a copy of which was acquired by The Badger Herald Wednesday, comes in response to alleged incidents that occurred on a trip to last month's football game against the University of Michigan. Other recurring incidents are also believed to have played a role in the chancellor's crackdown.
According to the letter, Wiley is putting the band on official probation and is even considering a change in leadership should any single instance of inappropriate conduct occur from this point on.
"I do not feel I have a choice: We either solve the problem now, and the band you have built to such legendary proportions survives, or we look at virtual extinction for a significant period of time," Wiley wrote.
Such "virtual extinction," Wiley said, would include the suspension of all travel and even of various performance activities.
While the university has not released any details of what specifically prompted the probation, Wiley said the behavior "can be seen as anything from boorish and offensive to patently dangerous and unlawful" and cited "gratuitous vulgarity, sexualized banter and joking, hazing, or other forms of demeaning conduct" as grounds for immediate suspension.
Wiley's special assistant Casey Nagy cast the band's behavior in a similar light, adding Leckrone was warned in the past after recurring incidents of misconduct were brought to the administration's attention.
"If the conduct wasn't significantly inappropriate, we wouldn't have gone to this length to address it," Nagy said in an interview Tuesday.
The confidential letter additionally outlined a set of new rules aimed at reforming the band's behavior. Wiley said he will require band members to attend training to prevent harassment and look into a system of independent monitors to supervise the band's trips. And according to The Associated Press, Provost Patrick Farrell's aide Eden Inoway-Ronnie will be appointed as an ombudsman officer to discuss concerns with band members.
While Wiley's letter came as news to UW band members contacted Wednesday night, his warnings of suspension did not. Wiley personally addressed the group Oct. 5 and informed them of the new rules.
Still, a number of band members said they remain uncertain about what actually spurred the letter and feel the chancellor's reaction was unwarranted.
But despite the ongoing confusion and unanswered questions, band member and UW fifth-year senior Bryan Post said the band is taking the chancellor seriously, even acting to remove derisive words from its ritual chants to make them more "lighthearted."
"Through his threat, it was kind of implied that certain words — pretty much any cuss words — [are] up for grabs," one band member, who wished to remain anonymous, said. "I mean who knows if you can say 'hell' anymore."
— Andriy Pazuniak contributed to this report.
IP hash: 8935a87e
ATTN Wiley: Please stop us from being mugged and robbed, or tuition from going up and up and up, or bring more diversity to campus. Forget the Band.
Love,
-A future donor?
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Why not double-secret probation?!?
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I am soooo sure that the band acts more “boorish” than the football team or any of the athletic teams for that matter. Maybe Wiley should push the football team to “virtual extinction.” If he is really on a crusade to stamp out “boorishness” the football team would seem to be a good place to start, wouldn’t it? Oh, wait. The football team brings in millions and millions of dollars? What a coward and a hypocrite.
The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is Wiley. As of these moment the marching band is on double-secret probation.
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Total agreement with the previous post. Wiley, you need to deal with the real problems like students getting raped, convicted criminals working/teaching at the university, rogue TAs, etc. instead of dragging the entire band thru the mud in the state media. Seriously, don’t you have better things to work on with OUR state tax dollars! Here’s a thought Wiley, you suspend the band, we suspend our donations. -UW alum
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No one cares about the band. OK, that’s harsh, but you band people have to hear it. It’s a nice add on for the football game, but do you really think the stadium would have 10,000 empty seats if the band didn’t show up? Why do you think everyone stands up and walks around at halftime?
I attended school at the UW and knew plenty of ‘band’ people. They are definitely a different breed. Some took it MUCH more seriously than others. All those ‘American Pie’ band-camp jokes aren’t that far off. Many were just people that enjoyed the group aspect and the music. Others struggled to construct a sentence that didn’t include the words ‘band’ or ‘marching’.
The bottom line is I heard/seen about some the stuff that goes down and some of it would be grounds for firing from a job or at the very least embarassing for the individuals involved.
Take the warning, if the shoe fits wear it.
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give the band a fucking break already
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I was in band for 4 years until 2003. Wiley talked to us then too, and told us there was to be no more alcohol or rudeness of the buses. The enitre band changed the next year. Dorks prospered, jokes disappeared, and the overall fun went down about %600. When marching into a stadium, in 30 pounds of wool and feathers and brass, which would you rather chant “eat me, eat me raw” or “bless our lord, we don’t swear.” Wiley has FCCed the band, caving into a very very few sweet dear religious zealots for what? So someone doesn’t have to hear a penis joke or smell the sweet smell of miller light on a trumpet player’s breath? The UW band doesn’t and has never attacked, killed, mauled, hurt, or dmaged anything. That’s for the Stanford band, which was ended a few years ago. The Wisconsin band is a mirror…they drink, they joke, they cheer, and they go to school like the rest of the school. Lighten up Wiley, this ain’t Marquette….yet.
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Sexual jokes and foul language a reason to get rid of the band? Give me a break. Every single member of the band is a legal adult; it’s not like anyone within the university community should be deeply offended. I would venture to guess that just about every college and university band in the country has chants that include foul or sexual language (probably even the most prestigious universities like Harvard or Yale). Why is it only a big deal at Wisconsin? Why? Because Wiley is on a power trip. I shouldn’t say something like that, or he’ll trace this computer’s IP address and come find me and verbally reprimand me. I’m so scared now.
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For a long time, the band was the only reason that people went to the football games. Anyone writing off the band members as a bunch of dorks has never seen a UW Band practice. You have to be really physically tough to make it in that band, even tougher than some UW football players of recent vintage (see Davis, Anthony).
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I was in the band from 1994-98. Any “hazing” that took place was 100X milder than what I received in my fraternity house.