COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – The Ohio State marching band is moving forward without its director; a day after he was fired they’re performing with the Columbus Symphony in what’s often considered the band’s unofficial season kickoff.
The university dismissed band director Jonathan Waters on Thursday after an investigation determined that he knew about and failed to stop a “sexualized” culture of rituals, including students being pressured to march in their underwear, sing lewd songs and perform sexually themed stunts that yielded often explicit nicknames.
Waters had led the 225-member band since 2012, succeeding 25-year veteran director Jon Woods. Waters’ halftime shows for what’s known to fans as “The Best Damn Band in the Land” were considered revolutionary.
Waters changed the shows by drawing them out on iPads instead of paper, directing marchers who morphed into the shapes of horses, superheroes and dinosaurs appearing to gallop, fly and tromp across the Buckeye football field.
Its technological advances landed the band in an Apple commercial in January. One performance in which the band takes the shape of a moonwalking Michael Jackson has more than 10 million views on YouTube.