Prayers for the FAMU/Marching 100

[96lioness]

What you fail to realize is that everyone has a CHOICE. If you do not want to be hazed then don't participate. It is that simple. He knew what he was signing up for. Some people do not mature as they grow but it does not take maturity to know THIS IS WRONG. You signed a paper (and had it notarized) that you would not do this activity. Is it tragic he is dead? DEFINITELY. But some of these statements in this thread are propostorous. As far as hazing goes, I do not condone any physical activity where you put your hands on someone else's child. If my son decides to pledge and does some dumb shit it is his fault. I'm sorry, I can't just ignore the fact that he knows right from wrong and left from right. The victim is not completely innocent because he CHOSE to participate and do this dumb shit...

They tied the young man hands behind his back, and had a bag over his face. Yall still wanna say this is different form gang banging? This is a street mentality that is destroying our kids and programs because folks up hold this mess.

Everyone did have a choice......and those hazers CHOSE to tie that boy's hands behind his back and THEN put a bag over his face. Even if he wanted to hit/fight back, he couldn't. And even if he did survive, he wouldn't be able to see the group of people or mob, that beat him senselessly. As for the dead victim not being innocent because he "knew what he was signing up for", I'm sure he didn't sign any paper agreeing to have his hand tied behind his back, have a bag put over his head, and agree to be beaten ultimately to his death. The only people I know who willingly sign such documents are those going into the US military and those who work for the FBI, CIA, and Secret Service, etc.

Again, if those hazers saw that this child was stupid enough to undergo this and possibly be killed (because they knew they were going to have a crowd of folks or mob beat him), they should have been smart enough and CHOSE not to beat him to death.

There comes a time in all our lives when we have to make the choice between doing what is right rather than what is easy.

 

[Kendrick]

Maybe you can't but i can seperate the two.

The Florida A&M band is the only college band in America that dwarfs the football team — to the point where FAMU football coaches understand that they’re going to have to swallow a few delay-of-game penalties to start the second half of home games because the band played past its allotted time.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blo...24/hazing-scandal-leaves-dark-cloud-over-famu

 

[FrostyNacho]

When did "yelling" turn into being punched in the back while running around a track? :xeye:

When you get jackasses

My thing is....parents are quick to exaggerate a situation to get the results they want. I know bcuz I was on the receiving end of a hazing allegation is 2005. I never let a crab march bcuz he kept missing practice and his parents was wondering why he wasn't marching. Then one day, he kept tear'n up a solo cadence and I had a few choice words with him. I never cussed at him, touched him or threatned him but somehow I kidnapped him and hazed him bcuz he couldn't play the right part and his mama was on the forefront of these allegations.

Luckily I had proof I was nowhere near him and I was cleared, but my point is that most parents come up with their stories off pure speculations but ready to hit the news and all of a sudden its "fact"

 

[ViperPhi]

:uzi:

Really, WOW!!! I had not even heard that............ This is SAD on sooooo many levels. That would explain the reason that there were no marks on his chest, and the 1st autopsy was inconclusive. It's sad because this did not have to happen. It's sad because our seeds of hazing in the past produced this HARVEST. (Death) It's sad because this incident affects EVERYBODY!!! It's sad because this happened over a STUPID BUS RITUAL!!! It's sad because a GROWN man, who had the highest position in the band, felt the need to prove himself by getting beaten by his peers. Its sad because the individuals that were on the bus WILL BE FACING CRIMINAL CHARGES. It's sad because the director who sits on the bus WILL BE FIRED because he could have stopped this bus ritual YEARS AGO!!! It's sad because this IS NOT what Dr. Foster intended. It's sad because The 100 WILL probably miss some games.

But, it is a GOOD THING BECAUSE this gives us an opportunity to deal with the past, and GET THIS RIGHT b4 we EVER set foot on the field again. The 100 WILL BE BETTER because of this.

 

[ALREADY KNOWIN']

The Florida A&M band is the only college band in America that dwarfs the football team — to the point where FAMU football coaches understand that they’re going to have to swallow a few delay-of-game penalties to start the second half of home games because the band played past its allotted time.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blo...24/hazing-scandal-leaves-dark-cloud-over-famu

If there was no band FAMU would continue to exist. But if there were no FAMU its band ceases to exist. it's as simple as that.

 

[Kendrick]

If there was no band FAMU would continue to exist. But if there were no FAMU its band ceases to exist. it's as simple as that.

Of course that's true. However, it doesn't mean that the Marching 100 isn't an indelible part of, and synonymous with, the university.

 

[MACKG]

Cee, is this confirmed or just speculation? I haven't been able to find out the exact cause of death.

They tied the young man hands behind his back, and had a bag over his face. Yall still wanna say this is different form gang banging? This is a street mentality that is destroying our kids and programs because folks up hold this mess.

 

[TSUGIRL07]

Maybe you can't but i can seperate the two.

well the courts won't...prayers go out to the familes of all involved.....

 

[southsuburbs]

Cee, is this confirmed or just speculation? I haven't been able to find out the exact cause of death.

I was wondering the same thing...

Got folks in here already repeating it. :lol:

 

[CEE DOG]

Cee, is this confirmed or just speculation? I haven't been able to find out the exact cause of death.

Speculation. One of my boys who marched in the 100 (former DM 88-90) told me they had his hands behind his back and a bag over his face.

 

[JAG89]

The Florida A&M band is the only college band in America that dwarfs the football team — to the point where FAMU football coaches understand that they’re going to have to swallow a few delay-of-game penalties to start the second half of home games because the band played past its allotted time.

http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blo...24/hazing-scandal-leaves-dark-cloud-over-famu

This is about the craziest crap I ever heard. This is like the tail that wags the dog. Maybe FAMU football games should consist of 4 quarters of band shows by the 100 with a half time of football.

 

[HORNETSWARM]

Not to downplay this all but I am seriously trying to figure out how a 26 year old drum major was STILL getting hazed.

This is absolutely ridiculous. This was not what I was expecting to hear.

I asked myself that same question. A drum major in every band or most bands are upper classman. How did a drum major get hazed or did he do something to freshman and they in return retaliated against him. This schytt just don't make any sense.

 

[HORNETSWARM]

Again some of us are focusing on the wrong thing. Someone's son, brother, nephew, cousin, and friend is dead because a group of individuals felt the need to haze him. Since no one is talking I say do the following:

Charge the entire band for First Degree Murder.

Yep! you have to throw the "boo" game at these ungrateful "bassttarrds." Now, they all have to get Attorney's and cause their parents to go broke behind this dum schytt.

 

[HORNETSWARM]

Well, the news in Atlanta said this was the 3rd case of hazing in the 100 this year. I guess the other two got swept under the rug.

The band director said he got rid of (26) members from incidents of hazing in the past.

 

[HORNETSWARM]

Drum Major who died in hazing was "Mr. Band"
http://ap.peninsulaclarion.com/pstories/us/20111128/920366073.shtml

LITHONIA, Ga. — Robert Champion fell in love with music at about age 6 when he saw a marching band at a parade in downtown Atlanta. So mesmerized by the festivities, he came home, took out pots and pans and started banging away like a little drummer.

His passion led him to marching bands from middle school through college. He was a drum major for the famed Marching 100 band of Florida A&M University, a group that has performed at Super Bowls, the Grammys and presidential inaugurations. The prestige brought along a "culture of hazing" and a secret world that played a role in Champion's death, his family said Monday.

"It needs to stop. The whole purpose is to put this out there and let people know there has to be a change," Champion's mother, Pam, said at a news conference.
Image
Robert Champion Sr., left, and his wife, Pam Champion, participate in a news conference on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011, in Lithonia, Ga. The Champions, parents of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion who died of suspected hazing Nov. 19, in Orlando, Fla., said they plan on filing a civil lawsuit in the matter. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

On Nov. 19, after the school's football team lost an away game to rival Bethune-Cookman, Champion collapsed on a bus parked outside an Orlando, Fla., hotel. The 26-year-old junior had been vomiting and complained he couldn't breathe shortly before he became unconscious.

When authorities arrived about 9:45 p.m., Champion was unresponsive. He died at a nearby hospital.

Authorities have not released any more details, except to say hazing played a role. An attorney representing Champion's family also refused to talk specifics.

Pam Champion, right, and her husband, Robert Champion Sr., participate in a news conference on Monday, Nov. 28, 2011, in Lithonia, Ga. The Champions, parents of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion who died of suspected hazing Nov. 19, in Orlando, Fla., said they plan on filing a civil lawsuit in the matter. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

"We are confident from what we've learned that hazing was a part of his death. We've got to expose this culture and eradicate it," Christopher Chestnut said. "There's a pattern and practice of covering up this culture."

Since Champion's death, the school has shuttered the marching band and the rest of the music department's performances. The longtime band director, Julian White, was fired.

Read rest of story

 

[PVSAX99]

The way I see this, EVERYBODY who participated in this was WRONG, and by "EVERYBODY", I mean the folks who were hazed as well as the folks who were hazing.

IMO, it makes no sense to punish only the hazers and let those that chose to be hazed go scott free. Those same folks who were hazed are going to become hazers, who think that they are above the law and are exempt from any consequence for breaking the law.

The FAMU DM died from being hazed was just as wrong as the folks who hazed him, and he payed with his life. May he RIP. But if he were alive, and these allegations still came to light, do some of you honestly believe that he shouldn't be held responsible for the decisions he made?

Also...WHERE WAS THE BUS CHAPERON AND THE BUS DRIVER WHEN THIS WAS GOING ON?