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For the first time since allegations of hazing came out last week, the University of Wisconsin Band practiced Tuesday for Saturday’s football game, with the knowledge they may not perform.
The band continued as usual, practicing “Jesus Christ Superstar” for halftime and the Penn State fight song in the rain.
Band Director Mike Leckrone said no decision has been made about whether the band will perform Saturday or not.
“We will continue to practice every day this week; if we’re going to do it we’re going to do it right,” Leckrone said. “We’re still waiting for a decision that could happen anytime.”
Dean of Students Lori Berquam said her staff has conducted interviews but had no estimation on when any further information on the allegations would be made available.
“I think what we want to do is make sure that all of our questions about the safety of our students have been addressed,” Berquam said. “Once we are confident that that’s been taken care of, I think things can move forward.”
The band did not perform in last Saturday’s game against Ohio State.
Music was played before the game and during media timeouts, and the CBS station in Madison provided a wrap of the day’s Big Ten football games.
Senior Associate Athletic Director Vince Sweeney said the athletic department is “anxiously waiting” to hear if the band will play before decisions are made as to Saturday’s game.
“We’re waiting on word if whether the band will be there or not, and once we hear that, we’ll see what happens after that,” Sweeney said.
The investigation is being led by Associate Dean of Students Kevin Helmkamp, who was not available for comment Tuesday.
Chancellor Biddy Martin has still yet to release a formal statement about the allegations, a difference from the chancellor’s involvement during the 2006 hazing allegations, when then-Chancellor John Wiley was one of the band’s harshest critics.
Berquam did not comment on Martin’s involvement in the investigation.
—Pedro Oliveira Jr. contributed to this report.
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Isn’t that convenient…this “investigation” will probably take as long as Berquam wants it to.
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When an athlete behaves badly, the university does not cancel the whole game and suspend the entire team. Why is the band different? Get rid of the troublemakers and bring the band back!! The Ohio State game needed the band!
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I agree with @10:17…get the investigation on the road and stop punishing those who did nothing wrong. -UW Alumnae ‘00
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In the past, when an athlete behaved badly, it was done on his/her own time and not done to a fellow teammate.
The band is different because what they have done is to other band members and while on a school sanctioned trip.
Understand the difference now?
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The directors of this program are ultimately to blame for all of this. They should always have control of the children under them. It shouldn’t matter how long any of them have been there - they should all be fired!!!
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I want to know why the entire band got canceled? I had tickets to the game JUST to see the marching band. That is the ONLY reason I wanted to go. So you mean then, by the same standards, the next time the quarterback gets caught drinking there won’t be any football players at the game.
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I’ve had season tickets to the football game for 4 years now, I cannot believe the band was not there last week, what a joke. Why not make the students involved take a week off as a suspension, but to involve the entire band for something stupid that 10 or so students did is not fair. The game against Ohio State was just not the same without the band and you can see what the end results were.
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hmm when athletes behave badly it is normally not at team sponsored events… and it is normally individually, not a group, in those cases, they athletes get kicked off the team or suspended.
I think UW needs fans, not the band.
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by suspending the band, you’re not punishing them…you’re punishing the fans. think about that. don’t cancel shows at home games, tell them they can’t go on road trips anymore unless they can behave, but don’t punish everyone else; especially for another night game, on ESPN.
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the media hasn’t said anything about when the the “hazing” accorded. so maybe it would be wise to tell you that everything that the band is being accused of didn’t happen on the michigan trip.
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1 - the directors do not need control of “the children” because these are not children—they’re adults. They should act like it. This includes respecting one another and, most importantly, telling someone if you feel uncomfortable, not whining to your parents.
2 - If this stuff didn’t occur on the trip (which is what I hear from some people), then where? At a party? You mean to say they can punish the band for misbehaving in their own residences? Not only is that crazy, it’s a serious violation of privacy. The band isn’t representing the university at their parties any more than the rest of the students are doing so at the other thousand house parties happening any weekend… why punish them?
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Tammy, the whole band is being punished because they don’t know exactly who was involved, and no one will say anything. If they wanted to play that bad, some would come forward and spill the beans. They just won’t. They CHOSE to do it that way.
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ahhh, they have been spilling the beans this week. The thing is, the beans they’re spilling arent that big of a deal, like providing alcohol to younger members. Cause you know, the band is the only people who drink underage on this campus. Nevermind seeing underage athletes at the friggin KK…
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Maybe it is time that these investigations go to the Athletic Department. My guess is that Casillas punishment was a slap on the wrist for a DWI or a MOPED. How big of a moron can you be to do that.
For once it is good to see Wisconsin has finally taken a stance on breaking the rules. Now it would be good if Fat Clemenza Alvarez and Little Boy Bret follow along with.
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The band members acte like “children” instead of adults. I hope this suspension continues until the many(not the few) kids involved are tossed out of the band. If the directors didn’t know what was going on, then why did they tell the upper classmen to “get with their freshmen” and take care of any problems that might have ocurred on the bus trip? These directors were on the buses so they had to know what was going on, but they decided to turn away and let it happen, then they got worried that someone might say something and tried to cover their own butts. I for one am so pleased that someone had the guts to blow the whistle. The University should be ashamed that this is a group that represents their college.
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@11:18 - that’s a lie. Half the band has gone in to talk to the deans in what, at least in the beginning, looked like a witch hunt. It’s beginning to dawn on them that their imaginations have run wild with this thing, and while some people might have acted out, it is not a problem with most of the band (and, indeed, that anything that happened was not as bad as the news infers)
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This incident goes deeper than just the allegations. While it is unfortunate that the entire band, as well as the badger fans have to suffer for the actions of a few, this is not the first time this has happened. This, once again, has garnered negative national attention for our university—from the marching band, who are on the front lines as far as representing the pride and tradition of the instituation. Perhaps a deeper investigation of the infrastructure and leadership of the organization is necessary to solve this problem.
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the band won’t help the badgers anyway, they have no chance against the top team in the big 10, penn state
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Or, perhaps we can recognize while the band is certainly in some way at fault and needs to make changes, this problem was exaggerated by poor management by the deans and university staff — both this year and in 2006.
Instead of addressing the actual issues that have arisen, they seem to see fit bringing in any complaint they’ve ever had about the band - including things that happened years and years ago - and punishing current bands for that.
By playing into the desire to legitimize their allegations and actions against the band, they keep bringing out these potential problems -like sexual fondling- that are subsequently (and have been) proven false, but tarnishing the band and university in the process.