The College Fix

On a bus ride in September, something went down involving some of James Madison University’s Marching Royal Dukes, something that ultimately got 12 drumline students in big trouble.

They didn’t break any laws, but did violate campus and marching band codes of conduct, reports the student newspaper The Breeze, which notes the incident came to light in the last month or so.

“The 12 students received charges from Judicial Affairs for violating the JMU conduct rules,” the paper reports. “The six members ‘who participated the most’ were kicked off the band for 2012 and received a withdraw/fail for its related class. The other six received punishments such as grade reductions and suspensions.”

So what did they do? The Breeze had reported it was a masturbation contest, but the band director denied that, and defended the students as good people who made some foolish choices. But one female marching band member quoted by the paper said she wasn’t surprised by the situation, that it was consistent with the drumline’s “culture.”

However, both she and the band director also praised the drumline. Reports The Breeze:

(Band director Scott Rikkers ) and the female MRD member stressed how close the drumline members are. The director described them as a “very focused and very motivated” group with “a lot of camaraderie.”

“These guys are good guys,” the female MRD member said. “They’re some of the best people I know.”

Rikkers said the bus incident was the “biggest issue” he’s dealt with in his five years directing the band, but he thinks it’s an isolated incident and not part of a larger pattern.

“This is a group of almost 500 human beings, and with humans come mistakes,” he said.

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