Osumb Task Force Final Report 11-17
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OSU MARCHING BAND CULTURAL ASSESSMENT & ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT REVIEW November 18, 2014 OSU MARCHING BAND CULTURAL ASSESSMENT & ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT REVIEW SUBMITTED BY: The OSU Marching Band Culture Task Force SUBMITTED TO: Michael V. Drake, President, The Ohio State University Jeffrey Wadsworth, Chair, The Ohio State University Board of Trustees ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The Task Force wishes to thank the many members of The Ohio State University Marching Band communitystudents, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, and neighborswho generously took time to share their experiences and insight with us. OSU MARCHING BAND CULTURAL ASSESSMENT & ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT REVIEW Contents I. Mission ............................................................................................................................................ 1 II. Relevant Laws & Policies .............................................................................................................. 1 III. The Work & Methodology ............................................................................................................ 3 A. Scope ............................................................................................................................................ 3 B. Interviews ..................................................................................................................................... 3 C. Independent Online Survey .......................................................................................................... 4 D. Document Review ........................................................................................................................ 6 E. Correspondence............................................................................................................................ 6 F. Outside Influences ....................................................................................................................... 6 IV. Cultural Assessment ...................................................................................................................... 7 A. The History & Structure of the Band ........................................................................................... 9 B. Making the Band ........................................................................................................................ 14 C. Band Performances & Scheduling ............................................................................................. 17 D. Training ...................................................................................................................................... 19 E. Band Traditions .......................................................................................................................... 20 F. Band Behavior ........................................................................................................................... 35 G. Alumni Influence on the Band ................................................................................................... 41 H. Independent Online Survey ........................................................................................................ 42 I. Task Force Observations: Cultural Review ............................................................................... 49 V. Administrative Oversight Review .............................................................................................. 56 A. Structural Accountability ........................................................................................................... 56 B. Funding of the Band................................................................................................................... 65 C. Facilities ..................................................................................................................................... 67 D. Roles of the Band ....................................................................................................................... 67 E. University Oversight .................................................................................................................. 69 F. Task Force Observations: Administrative Review .................................................................... 76 VI. Recommendations ........................................................................................................................ 78 VII. Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 88 OSU MARCHING BAND CULTURE TASK FORCE CULTURAL ASSESSMENT & ADMINISTRATIVE OVERSIGHT REVIEW November 18, 2014 I. Mission On August 4, 2014, The Ohio State University (“University”) President Michael V. Drake and the Board of Trustees appointed former Ohio Attorney General Betty D. Montgomery to lead a Marching Band Culture Task Force (“Task Force”) and charged the Task Force with conducting an assessment of The Ohio State University Marching Band’s (the “Band’s”) culture, and to review the University’s administrative processes and oversight of the Band. Upon completion of this assessment, the Task Force was to make recommendations for change if needed.1 The Task Force was established after the University completed a Title IX investigation, which indicated that the Band’s culture creates a hostile environment for students in that it facilitates acts of sexual harassment, and the Band Director knew or reasonably should have known about this culture but failed to eliminate the sexual harassment, prevent its recurrence, and/or address its effects.2 The Task Force was led by former Ohio Attorney General Betty Montgomery. Other Task Force members included the nationally-recognized law firm of Arent Fox LLP to assist with the assessment and to provide the Task Force with Title IX and other legal expertise, David Vaughn Consulting Group to assist with all aspects of the Task Force, ModernThink LLC to conduct an online, qualitative and quantitative survey of the Band’s culture, Ernst & Young (“EY”) to assist with data collection and analysis, and Steiner Public Relations to assist with the Task Force’s drafting, communications, and media relations. II. Relevant Laws & Policies As a public institution of higher education and a recipient of federal funding from the United States Department of Education (“DOE”), the University and the Band are subject to a variety of federal laws. For the purposes of this review, the Task Force referred to three specific federal laws to serve as a guiding regulatory framework in its review of the Band’s traditions: • Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”)3 1 Appendix A: August 4, 2014 letter from OSU President Michael Drake to Betty Montgomery. 2 The Ohio State University Office of University Compliance and Integrity, Investigation Report: Complaint Against Jonathan Waters, Director of the OSU Marching Band, July 22, 2014 (the “Title IX Report”). The Title IX Report can be accessed in full at http://www.osu.edu/assets/pdf/Investigation-Report.pdf (last visited November 10, 2014). 3 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681-1688; 34 C.F.R. Part 106. The full statutory text of Title IX can be found at http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/cor/coord/titleixstat.php and the implementing regulations can be found at http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/cor/byagency/34cfr106.php (both last visited November 10, 2014). Title IX as it applies to educational institutions is enforced by the Office of Civil Rights within the Department of Education (“DOE”) and the Civil Rights Division, Federal Coordination and Compliance Section within the Department of Justice. The Office of Civil Rights’ website can be found at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/index.html (last visited November 10, 2014) and its list of Title IX-related publications can be found at http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/publications.html (last visited 1 • The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (the “Clery Act”)4 • The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (“FERPA”)5 In addition to federal law, the Task Force considered the following University and Band policies that also regulate Band member conduct: • The University’s Student Code of Conduct (the “Code”)6 • The Band’s Policy and Procedures (“PnPs”) Band members arefirst and foremoststudents at The Ohio State University; Marching Band is an academic class for which students receive a letter grade. The University views its core missions as follows: “to foster the scholarly and civic development of the university's students in a safe and secure learning environment, and to protect the people, properties and processes that support the university and its missions.”7 As University students, Band members are subject to Ohio law8 and the Code; only Band members are subject to the PnPs. The student Code of Conduct states that all students are subject to the Code at all times on-campus, and off-campus if a student’s conduct causes substantial destruction of property, or causes or threatens serious harm to members of the University community, or if police are summoned or a police report is filed as a result of the student’s behavior. Additionally, the University’s position is that the Band’s Standards of Behavior for Members of The Ohio State University Marching Band9 extend to all on- or off-campus conduct and behavior and draw no distinction as to whether the behavior takes place during sanctioned