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Florida college band suspended indefinitely over hazing death

(Reuters) – Florida A&M University has suspended its

celebrated marching band indefinitely as it grapples with the beating death of a drum major and an

ongoing probe into the band’s culture of violent hazing.

Lawson Lamar, the State Attorney in 

the Ninth Judicial Circuit of Florida speaks in front of the Ninth Judicial Court in Orlando, Florida 

May 2, 2012. Lamar announced that 13 people are being charged with felony hazing and 20 with 

misdemeanour hazing in connection with the hazing death of Florida A&M University band major Robert 

Champion. REUTERS/Octavian Cantilli
Lawson Lamar, the State Attorney in the Ninth Judicial Circuit

of Florida speaks in front of the Ninth Judicial Court in Orlando, Florida May 2, 2012. Lamar announced

that 13 people are being charged with felony hazing and 20 with misdemeanour hazing in connection with

the hazing death of Florida A&M University band major Robert Champion. REUTERS/Octavian

Cantilli

“I have decided

the suspension of the band will continue through the 2012-13 academic year,” James Ammons, president of

Florida A&M in Tallahassee, told university trustees in a conference call on Monday.

The

band has been on suspension since the November 2011 hazing death of 26-year-old drum major Robert

Champion during a road trip to Orlando.

“I was heavily influenced by the need to be respectful

of Robert Champion’s family as well as other alleged victims,” Ammons said to the board, in explaining

his decision to sideline the band for the foreseeable future.

Ammons said the band won’t return

to the field until a new organizational structure and guidelines are implemented to ensure that an

incident like Champion’s death never happens again.

Thirteen people have been arrested as part

of a continuing investigation into the incident. Eleven of the defendants have been charged with a

third-degree felony for “hazing with death,” which is punishable under Florida law with a maximum of

six years in prison. Two others face a misdemeanor charge.

Champion’s death, which was ruled a

homicide by the medical examiner, pulled back the curtain on the band’s long history of physically

abusive hazing.

The victim’s mother, Pam Champion, has called for the dissolution of the band

“to clean the filth out” and objected to the fact that harsher charges have not been filed.

The

Champion family welcomed the decision to continue the band’s suspension.

“There were certainly

concerns by the family about the safety of students were that band to march this season,” Champion’s

family lawyer Chris Chestnut told Reuters.

The FAMU “Marching 100,” made up of approximately 460

musicians, is famous for its high-stepping showmanship. The band is credited with the widespread

transformation of college bands from the traditional military precision style to more innovative

pageantry.

In recent weeks, two music professors resigned after allegations in a Tallahassee

police report that they were present at a band party in which band students were hazed.

Band

director Julian White, who joined the faculty in 1971, resigned last week.

(Editing by Tom Brown

and Eric

Beech)

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Florida college band suspended indefinitely over hazing death

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