On Wednesday, FAMU Interim President Larry Robinson assured
trustees that the four finalists for the Marching 100 directorship were asked
to reveal what encounters, if any, they’ve had with hazing and how they
responded.
He made the statement in response to questions raised by
Trustee Marjorie Turnbull.
“Have they ever been hazed?” she asked concerning the
candidates. “Have they ever hazed anyone? Have they ever been involved with a
band that had hazing? If so, what did they do about it, and not just behind the
scenes, but, publicly to eliminate hazing.”
Turnbull said she wants to avoid any embarrassing media
revelations.
“The media is going to be all over this story. We don't want
anything popping up after we hire the director. So, I'm assuming that these
questions have been asked, that we understand where each of the candidates are
coming from on this.”
Faculty Senate President Narayan Persaud said his
representative on the band director search committee claimed that the types of
questions Turnbull raised weren’t being asked.
The finalists have not been mum on hazing since stepping
onto campus. The Office of Public Relations conducted video interviews with the candidates that asked them to directly address how they have dealt with the issue of hazing in the past and how they would work to enforce the university’s
no-hazing policies. Some of the clips from those interviews appeared in a news story the university released earlier this week.