The UW Marching Band will once again take to the field Saturday night in the Badger home football game against Penn State.

 
But university officials said in a news conference Thursday that some band members could still face punishment for recent hazing, characterized by band director Mike Leckrone as "asinine, disgusting and degrading.''

Nearly all substantiated

The band was silenced last week during the Ohio State game, suspended because of hazing allegations brought by several band members. A subsequent investigation substantiated nearly all of the allegations, Dean of Students Lori Berquam said in the news conference. A charge that students were fondled against their will was not substantiated, she said.

Berquam said nearly 70 students came forward to help with the investigation. She also said that several of the hazing victims, including some who were victimized on a bus during a Sept. 27 trip to Ann Arbor, have quit the band as a result.

"It's very disgusting that they felt so uncomfortable they couldn't continue,'' Leckrone said.

Though the band will perform Saturday, travel will be curtailed and additional complaints could result in another suspension, Leckrone said. While Berquam would not say how many students in the 315-member band were involved in the hazing, she said an investigation of the instigators continues and added that punishment could range from reprimand to expulsion. Victims have the option of filing criminal complaints, but none have done so, Berquam said.

2006 incident

The recent developments follow a similar incident in 2006. Leckrone said Thursday that several measures aimed at changing the internal culture of the band will be taken this time. He said he will take the band in a "new direction.''

"To be a truly great band,'' Leckrone said, "it's obvious the band's culture needs to change. It needs to change now and it needs to change permanently.''

Berquam said her investigation revealed the following acts that were part of hazing rituals carried out over several weeks, mostly by upper-class band members against freshmen:

• Underage drinking as part of band initiation.

• Students having to kneel and take a bite from a summer sausage.

• Student being confined to the bathroom in the back of the bus for several hours.

• Students being forced to wear odd and unbecoming haircuts.

• A game called "mystery door No. 3,'' in which students are blindfolded and led to a room behind a closed door where they are asked to remove lingerie from a male band member.

• Repeated incidences of sleep deprivation and other activities that impacted students' academic work.

• Other rituals involving underage drinking and the performance of limericks that were lewd and sexual in nature.

Drum majors Jon Alfuth, a junior from Eau Claire, and Alex Waskawic, a senior from Omro, said they were aware of some hazing but not the extensive acts uncovered in the investigation. Alfuth said the suspension from performing during the Ohio State game prompted many students to come forward.

"It felt terrible,'' said Alfuth of not playing during the nationally televised game. "It was an embarrassment.''

Both said they welcome change. "What we're really going for is a higher standard for ourselves both on and off the field,'' Alfuth said.

The steps to be taken

Gary Sandefur, dean of the College of Letters and Sciences, said several steps will be taken to prevent further incidents and to begin to change the culture within the band. These include:

• Appointment of a staff member to work with band members and promote a positive cultural change.

• More attention to the band's role as an educational activity, including a review by faculty members and the Letters and Sciences academic planning council, and a self-study by the band.

• Creation of an ongoing review and monitoring process to make band leaders more accountable for behavior of members under their oversight.

• Additional changes to travel and performance policies, including prohibitions on unauthorized performances.

At least one band parent attended the meeting and said she was generally pleased with the university response, though she said she had trouble reaching a university official last week to discuss the situation.

"It breaks my heart," said Betsy Reynolds, who has a freshman son and junior daughter in the band. Reynolds, an alumna from the class of 1981, said when her daughter and son had joined the band, "it made this huge place with 40,000 students feel smaller and safer."

She said a failure of leadership had led to the escalation of hazing in the band, but added that she was confident now that the university had addressed those failures and was on the right track with the proposed policy changes.

Neither of her children experienced any hazing personally, she said, but, "it was well known that this culture was brewing."

Berquam, in an interview after the press conference, addressed the hazing as part of a larger, cultural phenomenon that, though present on college campuses for many years, is nonetheless alarming whether it happens in a marching band or a fraternity or sorority.

"New students want to fit in,'' Berquam said. "They're vulnerable.''
Berquam added that the increased prevalence of alcohol on campus is also a factor. In the hazing incidents, she added, excessive drinking removes inhibitions that might otherwise stop instigators from engaging in such behavior.

William Wakefield, president of the College Band Directors National Association, said earlier this week that marching bands may be particularly susceptible to such problems because of the long hours of practice necessary and the closeness that develops among band members as a result. Alcohol is also a factor, he added, because of the party atmosphere that accompanies football games and other athletic events.