Ohio State University, Columbus, has fired the man who designed halftime shows and directed the marching band that has been nicknamed The Best Damn Band in the Land, the Associated Press reports, here, via Fox News.
Accused of ignoring a “sexualized” culture of rituals among band members, rituals that many alumni confess began long before he arrived at OSU in 2012, Jonathan Waters was dismissed on July 24, after he refused to quit, believing he had done nothing wrong, according to his attorney.
Apple Computer featured the band in a January commercial, since Mr Waters had become known for designing shows not on paper but on an iPad. In a performance that has received over 10 million YouTube views, his October 2013 halftime show included a moonwalking Michael Jackson, white glove and all.
Mr Waters may have been working to change a decades-old marching band culture that allegedly included rituals like members practicing in their underwear, addressing others by explicit nicknames, and performing sexually-charged skits, ABC News reported. But it’s often the current director who takes the blame for what happened in the past while any reform efforts are underway.
However, a report on CNN shows his attorney, David F Axelrod, saying on July 28 that the university relied on a flawed report in making its judgment. The university could not claim Mr Waters “knew or reasonably should have known about sexual harassment that created a hostile environment,” Mr Axelrod said, because only a small number of students, who do not represent the marching band “culture,” were actually interviewed.
“The report is deeply flawed. Out of 225 band members, over an eight-week period, Ohio State University managed to interview exactly four, including the person who made the complaint, and three people to whom she referred the university,” the news network quoted him as saying.
