Jury Finds Local School Negligent In Bullying Case
Jury Decides Against Awarding Damages To Ex-La Jolla Country Day Student Desiree
Bagby
April 20, 2011
SAN DIEGO -- A jury refused Wednesday to award damages to a former La Jolla
Country Day student who claimed she was bullied by classmates and that the school
retaliated against her when she complained, but did find the school negligent.
Desiree Bagby, now 18, sued in 2009, alleging she suffered emotional distress at the
hands of top LJCD administrators and that the school breached its contract with her to
re-enroll for her junior year.
After a four-week trial, jurors found that school headmaster Christopher Schuck and
high school principal Roderick Jemison were not out of line in their dealings with Bagby,
but found that LJCD was negligent and breached its contract with her.
Both sides claimed victory.
"This was the end of a very long process in which the school continually said that this
was not a case of bullying, and the jury fully agreed," said Chris Lavin, director of
communications and marketing for La Jolla Country Day.
"This was a young woman who, unfortunately, was facing expulsion from the school and
chose to develop a case with her family using things that the jury has rejected, as a way
of criticizing the school," Lavin said.
"We had to stand up in court and defend ourselves against one of our own clients,
never a good day for the school. But we had to do it because we have to discipline our
students," Lavin said. "Ms. Bagby was facing disciplinary problems, from the theft of
beer, from distribution of beer to other students, cheating on exams, and at some point,
the school has to say enough is enough."
Bagby said she was happy that she got her day in court.
"I'm just happy that I got to share my side of the story," she said. "And I just hope that
other kids that this is happening to will have the courage to speak up, as well."
Her attorney, Joane Garcia-Colson said the case was a victory because the jury found
LJCD negligent, even though it did not award any monetary damages.
Bagby had asked for $1 million.
"If this bullying epidemic sweeping the country is going to be stopped, people like
Desiree have to stand up and have to speak out," the attorney said. "And the more
people who do that, maybe schools will make some changes to protect our kids."
Bagby testified that she found slurs and a penis sketched on her car. She also alleged
a student nearly ran her down in a school parking lot; that she was threatened via the
Internet; and that someone put a dead rat in her locker. Lavin said it turned out to be
mouse.
Attorney John Collins, representing the school, told jurors in his closing argument on
Monday that the lawsuit was a "misuse" of the justice system and was filed to get back
at the school.
"They (school administrators) followed protocol to the letter," Collins said.
He told jurors that the girl's father told his daughter's adviser at La Jolla Country Day
that his goal in filing the lawsuit was to drag the school through the mud.
Collins said most of the witnesses in the trial contradicted Desiree Bagby's testimony
that she was bullied and that the school didn't do enough about it.
Bagby was suspended for five days for stealing beer and drinking during a
school-sponsored trip to Ecuador and yelling an obscenity at a heckler during a school
soccer game, according to court testimony.
A recommendation to expel Bagby was overturned, but she was ultimately asked to
withdraw from the school, which she did.
Bagby claimed she did not get a re-enrollment contract for her junior year, but Collins
said the school principal sent one to her home a day after he was told she did not get
one.
Garcia-Colson told the jury that the school wanted to make an example out of her.
The attorney said Babgy was humiliated when her soccer coach suspended her for
missing a game.
By not notifying the Bagbys that their daughter wasn't getting a contract to re-enroll at
the school, administrators "broke their own rules" and "betrayed" Bagby, her attorney
argued.
According to Garcia-Colson, school officials failed to discipline three girls who admitted
defacing Bagby's car.
The girls told school administrators they did so after she wrote on their cars, but that no
one asked Bagby for her side of the story because she was the "bad girl from
Ecuador," according to Garcia-Colson.
Administrators concluded that Bagby, also a member of the cheer team, was a "bad
child" and "they needed to get rid of her," the attorney said.
Bagby, who wants to be a child-advocate attorney, said she plans to resume her
college career at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Jury Decides Against Awarding Damages To Ex-La Jolla Country Day Student Desiree
Bagby
April 20, 2011
SAN DIEGO -- A jury refused Wednesday to award damages to a former La Jolla
Country Day student who claimed she was bullied by classmates and that the school
retaliated against her when she complained, but did find the school negligent.
Desiree Bagby, now 18, sued in 2009, alleging she suffered emotional distress at the
hands of top LJCD administrators and that the school breached its contract with her to
re-enroll for her junior year.
After a four-week trial, jurors found that school headmaster Christopher Schuck and
high school principal Roderick Jemison were not out of line in their dealings with Bagby,
but found that LJCD was negligent and breached its contract with her.
Both sides claimed victory.
"This was the end of a very long process in which the school continually said that this
was not a case of bullying, and the jury fully agreed," said Chris Lavin, director of
communications and marketing for La Jolla Country Day.
"This was a young woman who, unfortunately, was facing expulsion from the school and
chose to develop a case with her family using things that the jury has rejected, as a way
of criticizing the school," Lavin said.
"We had to stand up in court and defend ourselves against one of our own clients,
never a good day for the school. But we had to do it because we have to discipline our
students," Lavin said. "Ms. Bagby was facing disciplinary problems, from the theft of
beer, from distribution of beer to other students, cheating on exams, and at some point,
the school has to say enough is enough."
Bagby said she was happy that she got her day in court.
"I'm just happy that I got to share my side of the story," she said. "And I just hope that
other kids that this is happening to will have the courage to speak up, as well."
Her attorney, Joane Garcia-Colson said the case was a victory because the jury found
LJCD negligent, even though it did not award any monetary damages.
Bagby had asked for $1 million.
"If this bullying epidemic sweeping the country is going to be stopped, people like
Desiree have to stand up and have to speak out," the attorney said. "And the more
people who do that, maybe schools will make some changes to protect our kids."
Bagby testified that she found slurs and a penis sketched on her car. She also alleged
a student nearly ran her down in a school parking lot; that she was threatened via the
Internet; and that someone put a dead rat in her locker. Lavin said it turned out to be
mouse.
Attorney John Collins, representing the school, told jurors in his closing argument on
Monday that the lawsuit was a "misuse" of the justice system and was filed to get back
at the school.
"They (school administrators) followed protocol to the letter," Collins said.
He told jurors that the girl's father told his daughter's adviser at La Jolla Country Day
that his goal in filing the lawsuit was to drag the school through the mud.
Collins said most of the witnesses in the trial contradicted Desiree Bagby's testimony
that she was bullied and that the school didn't do enough about it.
Bagby was suspended for five days for stealing beer and drinking during a
school-sponsored trip to Ecuador and yelling an obscenity at a heckler during a school
soccer game, according to court testimony.
A recommendation to expel Bagby was overturned, but she was ultimately asked to
withdraw from the school, which she did.
Bagby claimed she did not get a re-enrollment contract for her junior year, but Collins
said the school principal sent one to her home a day after he was told she did not get
one.
Garcia-Colson told the jury that the school wanted to make an example out of her.
The attorney said Babgy was humiliated when her soccer coach suspended her for
missing a game.
By not notifying the Bagbys that their daughter wasn't getting a contract to re-enroll at
the school, administrators "broke their own rules" and "betrayed" Bagby, her attorney
argued.
According to Garcia-Colson, school officials failed to discipline three girls who admitted
defacing Bagby's car.
The girls told school administrators they did so after she wrote on their cars, but that no
one asked Bagby for her side of the story because she was the "bad girl from
Ecuador," according to Garcia-Colson.
Administrators concluded that Bagby, also a member of the cheer team, was a "bad
child" and "they needed to get rid of her," the attorney said.
Bagby, who wants to be a child-advocate attorney, said she plans to resume her
college career at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
Why This Website
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz v. Maura
Larkins defamation
SDCOE
CVESD
Castle Park
Elementary School
Law Enforcement
CTA
CVE
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz
Silence is Golden
Schools and Violence
Office Admin Hearings
Larkins OAH Hearing
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz v. Maura
Larkins defamation
SDCOE
CVESD
Castle Park
Elementary School
Law Enforcement
CTA
CVE
Stutz Artiano Shinoff
& Holtz
Silence is Golden
Schools and Violence
Office Admin Hearings
Larkins OAH Hearing
Police: 6 Pa. H.S. students arrested for bullying
Associated Press
January 31, 2011
Police in a Philadelphia suburb say they have arrested six teenagers and are seeking a
seventh in connection with an assault in which a 13-year-old student was kidnapped
and hung from a fence post, but not seriously hurt.
Upper Darby Township Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood says Monday's arrests
at Upper Darby High School are related to an assault that happened Jan. 11 in an
apartment complex courtyard.
Chitwood says the suspects, ages 13 to 17, kidnapped the victim on his way home from
school, dragged him through the snow, stuffed him in a tree and hung him by his jacket
from a 7-foot-high fence post.
Chitwood says the student did not suffer serious physical injuries. Police have not yet
determined a motive.
Associated Press
January 31, 2011
Police in a Philadelphia suburb say they have arrested six teenagers and are seeking a
seventh in connection with an assault in which a 13-year-old student was kidnapped
and hung from a fence post, but not seriously hurt.
Upper Darby Township Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood says Monday's arrests
at Upper Darby High School are related to an assault that happened Jan. 11 in an
apartment complex courtyard.
Chitwood says the suspects, ages 13 to 17, kidnapped the victim on his way home from
school, dragged him through the snow, stuffed him in a tree and hung him by his jacket
from a 7-foot-high fence post.
Chitwood says the student did not suffer serious physical injuries. Police have not yet
determined a motive.
Aggression on Job More Harmful
Than Sexual Harassmentl
Study finds bullied workers had
more
stress, less commitment and higher
levels of anxiety
3/8/08
HealthDay News
Persistent criticism, belittling
comments,
bullying and other forms of
workplace
aggression may inflict more harm
on
employees than sexual harassment,
according to a Canadian study.
"As sexual harassment becomes
less
acceptable in society,
organizations may
be more attuned to helping victims,
who
may therefore find it easier to
cope. In
contrast, non-violent forms of
workplace
aggression such as incivility and
bullying
are not illegal, leaving victims to
fend for
themselves," lead author M. Sandy
Hershcovis, of the University of
Manitoba, said in a prepared
statement.
In their work, the researchers
reviewed
110 studies conducted over 21
years.
They found that both workplace
aggression and sexual harassment
create negative work environments
and
unhealthy consequences for
workers, but aggression has more
severe
consequences.
Workers faced with bullying,
incivility or
interpersonal conflict were more
likely to
quit their jobs, have a lower level of
well-being, be less satisfied with
their jobs,
and have less satisfying
relationships with
their bosses than workers who were
sexually harassed, the researchers
concluded.
In addition, bullied employees
reported
more job stress, less job
commitment and
higher levels of anger and anxiety.
"Bullying is often more subtle and
may
include behaviors that do not
appear
obvious to others," Hershcovis
said. "For
instance, how does an employee
report to
their boss that they have been
excluded
from lunch? Or that they are being
ignored by a co-worker? The
insidious
nature of these behaviors makes
them
difficult to deal with and sanction."
The study was to be presented
Saturday
in Washington, D.C., at the
International
Conference on Work, Stress and
Health,
co-sponsored by the American
Psychological Association, the U.S.
National Institute of Occupational
Safety
and Health, and the Society for
Occupational Health Psychology.
Than Sexual Harassmentl
Study finds bullied workers had
more
stress, less commitment and higher
levels of anxiety
3/8/08
HealthDay News
Persistent criticism, belittling
comments,
bullying and other forms of
workplace
aggression may inflict more harm
on
employees than sexual harassment,
according to a Canadian study.
"As sexual harassment becomes
less
acceptable in society,
organizations may
be more attuned to helping victims,
who
may therefore find it easier to
cope. In
contrast, non-violent forms of
workplace
aggression such as incivility and
bullying
are not illegal, leaving victims to
fend for
themselves," lead author M. Sandy
Hershcovis, of the University of
Manitoba, said in a prepared
statement.
In their work, the researchers
reviewed
110 studies conducted over 21
years.
They found that both workplace
aggression and sexual harassment
create negative work environments
and
unhealthy consequences for
workers, but aggression has more
severe
consequences.
Workers faced with bullying,
incivility or
interpersonal conflict were more
likely to
quit their jobs, have a lower level of
well-being, be less satisfied with
their jobs,
and have less satisfying
relationships with
their bosses than workers who were
sexually harassed, the researchers
concluded.
In addition, bullied employees
reported
more job stress, less job
commitment and
higher levels of anger and anxiety.
"Bullying is often more subtle and
may
include behaviors that do not
appear
obvious to others," Hershcovis
said. "For
instance, how does an employee
report to
their boss that they have been
excluded
from lunch? Or that they are being
ignored by a co-worker? The
insidious
nature of these behaviors makes
them
difficult to deal with and sanction."
The study was to be presented
Saturday
in Washington, D.C., at the
International
Conference on Work, Stress and
Health,
co-sponsored by the American
Psychological Association, the U.S.
National Institute of Occupational
Safety
and Health, and the Society for
Occupational Health Psychology.
Phoebe Prince's mother
lashes out at daughter's
tormentor
by Martin Finucane
May 4, 2011
By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff
The mother of Phoebe Prince,
the 15-year-old Irish immigrant
who killed herself after being
bullied by classmates, lashed
out today at one of her
daughter's tormentors and
described her grief as an
"unbelievable pain" that will
never subside.
"There is a dead weight that now sits permanently on my chest," Anne O'Brien said
through tears at a Northampton courtroom, where a judge sentenced two of the six
teenagers charged in connection with Prince's death to one year of probation.
In an emotional victim impact statement, O'Brien accused Sean Mulveyhill, a former
classmate who pleaded guilty to harassing Prince, of being in a "predatory" relationship
with her daughter. Mulveyhill had briefly dated Prince.
"Had I known the truth, I would have viewed his interest in my daughter as predatory
and she would have been forbidden to see him," she said.
She read one of her daughter's final text messages, which described her growing
desperation over the bullying.
"I think Sean condoning this is one of the final nails in my coffin," Prince wrote. O'Brien's
voice cracked with emotion as she read the text.
Mulveyhill, 18, was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service with at-risk
youth. Charges of statutory rape and violating her civil rights were dismissed.
Kayla Narey, 18, admitted to sufficient facts to a criminal harassment charge. Charges
of violating Prince's civil rights were dismissed.
Both are forbidden to have contact with Prince's family or profit from their involvement
in the case.
Prince hanged herself in January 2010 at her family's South Hadley home. Her death
drew international attention to the dangers of school bullying and spurred
Massachusetts lawmakers to enact sweeping antibullying legislation.
In a statement, prosecutors said the guilty pleas showed that bullies will be punished for
their actions.
"By admitting that they engaged in criminal harassment toward Phoebe Prince, these
two defendants have publicly accepted responsibility for their actions, and have been
held accountable," said First District Attorney Steven E. Gagne...
lashes out at daughter's
tormentor
by Martin Finucane
May 4, 2011
By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff
The mother of Phoebe Prince,
the 15-year-old Irish immigrant
who killed herself after being
bullied by classmates, lashed
out today at one of her
daughter's tormentors and
described her grief as an
"unbelievable pain" that will
never subside.
"There is a dead weight that now sits permanently on my chest," Anne O'Brien said
through tears at a Northampton courtroom, where a judge sentenced two of the six
teenagers charged in connection with Prince's death to one year of probation.
In an emotional victim impact statement, O'Brien accused Sean Mulveyhill, a former
classmate who pleaded guilty to harassing Prince, of being in a "predatory" relationship
with her daughter. Mulveyhill had briefly dated Prince.
"Had I known the truth, I would have viewed his interest in my daughter as predatory
and she would have been forbidden to see him," she said.
She read one of her daughter's final text messages, which described her growing
desperation over the bullying.
"I think Sean condoning this is one of the final nails in my coffin," Prince wrote. O'Brien's
voice cracked with emotion as she read the text.
Mulveyhill, 18, was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service with at-risk
youth. Charges of statutory rape and violating her civil rights were dismissed.
Kayla Narey, 18, admitted to sufficient facts to a criminal harassment charge. Charges
of violating Prince's civil rights were dismissed.
Both are forbidden to have contact with Prince's family or profit from their involvement
in the case.
Prince hanged herself in January 2010 at her family's South Hadley home. Her death
drew international attention to the dangers of school bullying and spurred
Massachusetts lawmakers to enact sweeping antibullying legislation.
In a statement, prosecutors said the guilty pleas showed that bullies will be punished for
their actions.
"By admitting that they engaged in criminal harassment toward Phoebe Prince, these
two defendants have publicly accepted responsibility for their actions, and have been
held accountable," said First District Attorney Steven E. Gagne...
Bullying and hazing
Interview With My Bully:
The mean girl I can’t
forget
My bully comes clean, 30
years later: "I was told I was
special, so I acted special
and better than others"
By Sue Sanders
Salon.com
Nov. 14, 2011
A week before the seventh
grade, my family moved for
the 13th time. My dad was in
the oil business, and we left
Indonesia, where I’d had
friends, for a small Southern
town, where I had none. My
only companion dressed
exclusively in navy culottes
and white button-down shirts,
her wardrobe compliments of
her Pentecostal religion. We
were practically the only two
girls without The Hairdo: a
feathered Farrah Fawcett cut
that necessitated a cloud of
Aqua Net hairspray to tame it
in Louisiana’s humidity.
Each morning of seventh
grade I took the bus to
school, and each morning I
was bullied by a girl I’ll call
Jane.
“Ew — don’t you wash your
hair?” Jane shouted at me
from two rows back as her
sidekick Kim laughed. I did
wash my hair, but apparently
once a week was not
enough. And I wasn’t exactly
the most fashion-conscious
kid. In fact, I was pretty much
fashion unconscious — to
the point where I could have
used some smelling salts
and a personal shopper. I
thought sitting behind the bus
driver would protect me.
Instead, he just turned up the
volume on the Eagles. (Years
before Noriega was tortured
by rock ‘n’ roll music, so was
I.) This went on all through
seventh grade. That year, I
pretended to be sick so often
that I’m surprised my parents
didn’t whisk me to the local
hospital.
But eighth grade would be
different! I waited for the bus
on the first day of school
wearing a maroon skirt and
polyester beige shirt printed
with cowboy hats and horses.
I looked great! But as soon
as I boarded the bus, Jane
and Kim started to neigh. It
was clear that eighth grade
was going to be just like
seventh — only with bigger
breasts.When I asked Jane
why she’d been like that, she
said she thought it came
down to three reasons. She’d
felt an enormous sense of
entitlement. “My mom put me
up on a pedestal and I was
told I was special, so I acted
special and better than
others.” She’d come from a
family of huge personalities
and, as she put it, “I was an
attention whore — positive or
negative.” And it turned out
she’d been bullied herself in
fifth grade. “My bully was
brutal and the police had to
get involved. That kid took a
lot from me emotionally,
physically and materially. He
actually ended up much later
going to prison for murder.
And I know what you’re
thinking — if I was bullied,
why would I become one?
Because if I was mean first
then others would be afraid of
me, not the other way around.”
The mean girl I can’t
forget
My bully comes clean, 30
years later: "I was told I was
special, so I acted special
and better than others"
By Sue Sanders
Salon.com
Nov. 14, 2011
A week before the seventh
grade, my family moved for
the 13th time. My dad was in
the oil business, and we left
Indonesia, where I’d had
friends, for a small Southern
town, where I had none. My
only companion dressed
exclusively in navy culottes
and white button-down shirts,
her wardrobe compliments of
her Pentecostal religion. We
were practically the only two
girls without The Hairdo: a
feathered Farrah Fawcett cut
that necessitated a cloud of
Aqua Net hairspray to tame it
in Louisiana’s humidity.
Each morning of seventh
grade I took the bus to
school, and each morning I
was bullied by a girl I’ll call
Jane.
“Ew — don’t you wash your
hair?” Jane shouted at me
from two rows back as her
sidekick Kim laughed. I did
wash my hair, but apparently
once a week was not
enough. And I wasn’t exactly
the most fashion-conscious
kid. In fact, I was pretty much
fashion unconscious — to
the point where I could have
used some smelling salts
and a personal shopper. I
thought sitting behind the bus
driver would protect me.
Instead, he just turned up the
volume on the Eagles. (Years
before Noriega was tortured
by rock ‘n’ roll music, so was
I.) This went on all through
seventh grade. That year, I
pretended to be sick so often
that I’m surprised my parents
didn’t whisk me to the local
hospital.
But eighth grade would be
different! I waited for the bus
on the first day of school
wearing a maroon skirt and
polyester beige shirt printed
with cowboy hats and horses.
I looked great! But as soon
as I boarded the bus, Jane
and Kim started to neigh. It
was clear that eighth grade
was going to be just like
seventh — only with bigger
breasts.When I asked Jane
why she’d been like that, she
said she thought it came
down to three reasons. She’d
felt an enormous sense of
entitlement. “My mom put me
up on a pedestal and I was
told I was special, so I acted
special and better than
others.” She’d come from a
family of huge personalities
and, as she put it, “I was an
attention whore — positive or
negative.” And it turned out
she’d been bullied herself in
fifth grade. “My bully was
brutal and the police had to
get involved. That kid took a
lot from me emotionally,
physically and materially. He
actually ended up much later
going to prison for murder.
And I know what you’re
thinking — if I was bullied,
why would I become one?
Because if I was mean first
then others would be afraid of
me, not the other way around.”
San Diego
Education Report
Education Report
FAMU student death prompts probe of hazing practices
Florida A & M University officials, along with Gov. Rick Scott, are going to review the
hazing culture at the university following the death of a FAMU band member.
By KATIE SANDERS
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
Nov. 24, 2011
TALLAHASSEE -- Fallout from the death of a Florida A&M University drum major
intensified this week with the firing of the school’s band director, the suspensions of
four students and Gov. Rick Scott ordering the state’s law enforcement agency to assist
with the investigation.
Robert Champion, 26, of Atlanta, was found unresponsive Saturday night on a bus
after vomiting and complaining he could not breathe. The bus was parked in front of an
Orlando hotel after the Marching 100 performed at the annual Florida Classic football
game against rival Bethune-Cookman.
Champion was hazed before the 911 call, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said
Tuesday, but officials acknowledged the cause of Champion’s death could take three
months to determine.
Still, FAMU President James Ammons fired Julian White, the band’s director of 13 years,
because he said he failed to protect students from hazing despite repeated complaints.
His dismissal is effective Dec. 22. Ammons also announced the formation of an eight-
member task force charged with analyzing the band’s hazing culture and recommending
new policies to eradicate it.
“I think we’ve shed a lot of light on this pattern of behavior that has plagued this
campus and campuses across the country for so long,” Ammons said in a news
conference Wednesday.
White could not be reached.
Ammons refused to give details about the suspensions, citing student privacy laws. He
said they were suspended because of their “known association with the hazing that took
place over the weekend.”
On Tuesday, he indefinitely suspended the 375-member marching band and other
performance ensembles supervised by the music department.
In a letter to FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey, Gov. Scott said he wanted Champion’s
death “to become fully known” and for anyone directly or indirectly responsible for his
death to be brought to justice.
“The reality,” Scott wrote, “is that the death investigation significantly impacts the
University, the Tallahassee community and the State of Florida as a whole.”
Bernard Kinsey, a major FAMU fundraiser who played in the band in the 1960s and a
former president of the school’s National Alumni Association, watched with pride
Saturday as the Marching 100 performed what would become his favorite performance
in a decade: a high-stepping tribute to military veterans, at one point forming the shape
of an airplane coming home for a landing and unfurling a mammoth red, white and blue
flag across the field.
Kinsey would later admire a solo by the trombone section. Band director White, an old
friend, told him the section was 19 members fewer than normal because he suspended
them out of suspicion of hazing.
“He said, ‘Bernard, we cracked down,’ ” Kinsey said.
Hours later, Champion was dead...
Florida A & M University officials, along with Gov. Rick Scott, are going to review the
hazing culture at the university following the death of a FAMU band member.
By KATIE SANDERS
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
Nov. 24, 2011
TALLAHASSEE -- Fallout from the death of a Florida A&M University drum major
intensified this week with the firing of the school’s band director, the suspensions of
four students and Gov. Rick Scott ordering the state’s law enforcement agency to assist
with the investigation.
Robert Champion, 26, of Atlanta, was found unresponsive Saturday night on a bus
after vomiting and complaining he could not breathe. The bus was parked in front of an
Orlando hotel after the Marching 100 performed at the annual Florida Classic football
game against rival Bethune-Cookman.
Champion was hazed before the 911 call, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said
Tuesday, but officials acknowledged the cause of Champion’s death could take three
months to determine.
Still, FAMU President James Ammons fired Julian White, the band’s director of 13 years,
because he said he failed to protect students from hazing despite repeated complaints.
His dismissal is effective Dec. 22. Ammons also announced the formation of an eight-
member task force charged with analyzing the band’s hazing culture and recommending
new policies to eradicate it.
“I think we’ve shed a lot of light on this pattern of behavior that has plagued this
campus and campuses across the country for so long,” Ammons said in a news
conference Wednesday.
White could not be reached.
Ammons refused to give details about the suspensions, citing student privacy laws. He
said they were suspended because of their “known association with the hazing that took
place over the weekend.”
On Tuesday, he indefinitely suspended the 375-member marching band and other
performance ensembles supervised by the music department.
In a letter to FDLE Commissioner Gerald Bailey, Gov. Scott said he wanted Champion’s
death “to become fully known” and for anyone directly or indirectly responsible for his
death to be brought to justice.
“The reality,” Scott wrote, “is that the death investigation significantly impacts the
University, the Tallahassee community and the State of Florida as a whole.”
Bernard Kinsey, a major FAMU fundraiser who played in the band in the 1960s and a
former president of the school’s National Alumni Association, watched with pride
Saturday as the Marching 100 performed what would become his favorite performance
in a decade: a high-stepping tribute to military veterans, at one point forming the shape
of an airplane coming home for a landing and unfurling a mammoth red, white and blue
flag across the field.
Kinsey would later admire a solo by the trombone section. Band director White, an old
friend, told him the section was 19 members fewer than normal because he suspended
them out of suspicion of hazing.
“He said, ‘Bernard, we cracked down,’ ” Kinsey said.
Hours later, Champion was dead...