The DeKalb County (Ga.) School System has suspended all marching band activities after district officials found “documented evidence of inappropriate activity that took place over the summer,” a district spokeswoman told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.District officials started asking questions after they becoming worried about possible connections to hazing in the FAMU Marching 100.
According to the newspaper: “Robert Champion, who died Nov. 19, was a Southwest DeKalb High School graduate. FAMU clarinetist Bria Hunter, injured in an earlier alleged hazing incident, was also a Southwest DeKalb graduate, as were two of the three bandmates who were charged with punching her hard enough to break her leg. (The third defendant is a Druid Hills High School graduate.)”
Hunter was hospitalized after being allegedly beaten while trying to become a member of the “Red Dawg Order,” an underground group associated with the FAMU band. The Red Dawgs are said to consist of students from Georgia.
Hunter has announced plans to sue FAMU. The suspects in her case say they will contest the charges.
“Our concern is that student safety needs to be assured,” District spokesman Walter Woods said. “And we have a zero-tolerance policy for harassment or any other inappropriate behavior.”
The district’s investigation will take up to two months to complete.