“Dr. Robinson deserves credit for taking charge of the
situation and taking the appropriate steps to hire additional staff to help
oversee band operations,” the Tallahassee Democrat editorial board wrote. “By
hiring Mr. Young he is bringing in a seasoned, no-nonsense musician and band
director who has experienced a successful career in directing and managing
marching bands.”
The Orlando Sentinel editorial board also praised Young’s
return to The Hill.
“Hiring Sylvester Young as the new band director is another
plus,” the Sentinel editorial board wrote. “He’s a FAMU alumnus and former
Marching 100 trombone player. He’s a strong leader who’s led bands at two other
historically black universities. He understands the culture of hazing and his
vital role in putting an end to it.”
Back in May, Pamela and Robert Champion, Sr. criticized Young’s hiring. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office concluded that their son, Robert Champion, Jr., died after he “willingly participated” in an act of hazing that followed the 2011 Florida Classic in Orlando.
According to the Orlando Sentinel: “In an interview with the
Orlando Sentinel, Robert and Pamela Champion also questioned why Florida
A&M University hired a new band director who acknowledged he was hazed
while he was a FAMU student.”
Young admitted that back when he was a member of the
Marching 100, upperclassmen bullied him out of a hotel room during an
out-of-town game in Miami and told him to take off a pair of red socks he had
worn.
The fact that Young was a victim of hazing doesn’t erase his
proven record of strictly enforcing anti-hazing rules throughout his entire
collegiate band directing career. That’s how he kept students safe while
leading the band programs at Lincoln University, Hampton University, and Ohio
University.
The Tallahassee Democrat and Orlando Sentinel are right to urge
Floridians to give Young a fair chance based upon his decades of success in
fighting hazing.