Jonathan Waters said that he recognized upon taking over the band 20 months earlier that aspects of its culture were “vestiges representing cultural norms from eras gone by” and that culture needed to change.
The university fired Jonathan Waters last week after the two-month investigation concluded he knew about, but failed to stop, a “sexualized culture” of rituals that included students being pressured to march in their underwear and to perform sexually themed stunts that yielded often-explicit nicknames.
Waters detailed the changes he was trying to make in a seven-page document prepared when the university began investigating allegations of sexual harassment within the band. His attorney released the document Wednesday night.
In the document, Waters said that he recognized upon taking over the band 20 months earlier that aspects of its culture were “vestiges representing cultural norms from eras gone by” and that culture needed to change.
He said the band staff had begun a process of “concentrated pressure for real, lasting change within the organization,” under the belief that “the best and most permanent change occurs from within the organization.”
Attorney David Axelrod said investigators did not reference the document in their report, and the band alumni association has suggested Waters wasn’t afforded due process.
