Thomas J. West Music

In this new age of transparency thanks to the Internet, regimes in the middle east have crumbled, skeletons are coming out of closets, and many situations that were "don't ask, don't tell" in the recent past are no longer socially acceptable. The more public your life and your work are, the more of a responsibility you have to operate with the highest levels of impeccability.

And that means school band directors.

American high school and college marching bands are some of the most publically visible organizations associated with their school and the community they reside in. Marching band directors are often called upon to be the bastions of discipline and integrity for their students and their bands are called upon to be goodwill ambassadors for the entire town. There have been many stories over the years of impropriety among band directors, but none more so than today.

Back in December, news that the death of the marching band drum major at Florida A&M had been ruled a homicide by blunt force trauma was announced. The incident was the result of traditional hazing practices gone awry. Such incidents of hazing are unfortunately still common practice at many universities among their greek organizations in particular, but college marching bands also are sometime subject to gentle, yet definable hazing.

And now today, in the continued wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal at my alma mater, Onward State has reported that the Penn State Blue Band will no longer play a stadium favorite because of the original artist's continued connection to child abuse. [LINK]. "Rock 'n' Roll, Part 2", commonly known as "The Hey Song", is a favorite played by many marching bands in the stands at football games. This certainly is not the first time that a marching band has been publically challenged on its song choices, but given the gravity of the Penn State situation, Dr. O. Richard Bundy made the right call - to discontinue performing a song that has garnered the best crowd interaction over the years.

If you are a high school or college marching band director, never has there been a more imporant time for you to tighten the reigns on the activities of your program, both on and off the field. If you are a college band director, you have the added responsibility to hold firm on your policies on underage drinking and substance abuse.

The Internet and social media has ushered in a new era of transparency for all of us. This is a good thing, because many old ways of behaving and relating to one another must now change. These incidents have always been around, but now it is easier for a large audience to be aware of it and to call out for change. The best practice is, of course, to make your every word and deed of the highest quality you can. You will be reminded of it when you do not, as I was recently when a reader complained about something I had posted on my blog. Or, if you choose to sling damaging words of insensitivity and commit acts that disturb and diminish others, you will find yourself among the company of those, both online and off, who treat people similarly.

This article (c) 2012 Thomas J. West. All content on ThomasJWestMusic dot com is licensed under a Creative Contributions Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Please contact the author before publishing on or off-line.

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