Ross: White opposed recommendation to sideline Marching 100 during Florida Classic

Calvin Ross, who retired last month as FAMU’s police chief, says ex-band director Julian White opposed his recommendation to suspend the Marching 100 before the Florida Classic.

Ross told the Orlando Sentinel that he suggested the preventative action during a Nov. 16 meeting in the office of former Provost Cynthia Hughes-Harris. He added that Dean of Students Henry Kirby also backed the recommendation.

“He [Kirby] and I both agreed there be a strong message sent with the suspension of the entire band,” Ross said. “But none of the others agreed to that as a remedy to ending or impacting hazing.”

The recommendation followed the reported hazing of Red Dawg Order pledge Bria Hunter and the suspension of approximately 30 members of the trombone and clarinet sections of the band due to hazing accusations.

According to Ross, White disagreed with the suspension proposal.

Ross’ account of the Nov. 16 meeting was disputed by Brooke Hobbs, a spokeswoman for White’s attorney Chuck Hobbs. She said White supported the proposed suspension.

“The consensus of everyone in that meeting was that no one in the room had the power to make that decision," Brooke Hobbs said.

White claims senior administrators didn't do enough to help him fight hazing over the years. He released stacks of records about his hazing reports in an attempt to support that claim. But many of the letters to his bosses were simply informational memos that gave the impression that he was in full control of the band and was staying on top of the hazing problem.

Ross told the Orlando Sentinel that he thought FAMU President James H. Ammons would be briefed about the discussion that took place during the meeting. But he said it wasn’t clear to him that Ammons was ever informed. He didn’t explain to the newspaper why he didn’t just take his suspension recommendation directly to the president.