censorship plan and simple… very ironic in so many ways
The band was one of the highlights of Admit Weekend. Sad that the class of 2021 won’t have that experience. My take is that the class of 2020 will be the last class to enjoy the incredibly wild and out of the box performances.
My D16 was able to join this year and perform at a game. Understand, she had never played an instrument before. They found a place for her and welcomed her with open arms. She’s grateful she was able to take part in it, even if it was just for 1 game.
Some people here, including my RA, said that the band was the deciding factor in them choosing to attend Stanford. The band and their quirky nature really help differentiate Stanford from other similar caliber schools like Harvard. They’re fun and unique, and it’ll be a shame that they won’t get to perform for the ProFros. I hope something can be done about this 
The article says that Stanford has formed a committee. That is always a bad sign no matter what!
My son is a pretty quiet kid and not a member of the band. Talked with him tonight. He is pretty disgusted with the administration on this issue (and others). The new president needs to wake up. Political correctness has gone wild. I don’t know who it is helping, but it is certainly hurting a lot of people.
I agree, but this is not political correctness. This is what the administration perceives as political correctness. The students understand the difference between an offensive joke and a raunchy one, but the administration can’t understand that distinction. They’re AFRAID of everyone being offended at everything, even though that’s not actually the case. Sad that the administration disregarded the students opinions in essentially every way throughout this process
Many do not which is why many comedians will not perform on college campuses.
I haven’t kept up with what’s going on with the band and their latest suspension, but I have seen them perform more than one skit that I consider offensive - for example at the most recent Rose Bowl, where the band’s halftime show seemed to be mocking people from Iowa as ignorant hicks. That’s just one example.
Apparently it is acceptable to these entitled people to mock their “inferiors” from Iowa.
IMO, they are equal opportunity offenders. Meaning, they mock everyone. No one is safe. No one is immune. Sorta like SNL. From my understanding, they were far more outrageous in the past. I think they are banned in perpetuity from Notre Dame’s campus. Seems like I heard they mocked the LDS many years ago at a BYU game when the drum major got down on one knee in front of each of the five Dollies (who were wearing wedding veils) and pretended to propose. The entire script of the Rose Bowl performance was posted on their FB page. I surveyed my two Iowa friends; one was offended while the other found it humorous.
@hoggirl It seems that the mocking is limited to certain groups based on you post: Catholics, LDS, people in the “fly over” states.
obviously you do not know the Stanford band…
USC comes to mind… but they can take a joke:)
Oregon was another… but then again the band was banned by the Oregon governor for a while after that performance.
and trust me… if Stanford competed against any East Coast peers… there would be a lot more material there to mock:)
Most of the Ivy/Ivy-equivalent bands are just as tasteless at times. The Stanford band is being singled out for playing at events people actually attend!
@sbballer Has the band mocked gays and lesbians, minorities etc.?
The Band did a particularly offensive show mocking tree-huggers at a game in Washington (or Oregon), a demographic that pretty much matched their own. That might have been the one @sbballer was referring to. Something to do with saving the spotted-owl. They are generally hilarious imho. I believe that papal spoof show at ND got them banned from a bowl game. Decades ago (but pre-social media so the offense was contained) , the Harvard Band played the theme from Exodus at an event featuring Brandeis, so yes, Stanford has peers in the tasteless category.
That’s right that some of the Ivy bands have also done some controversial skits, though the ones I’m familiar with have been a number of years back. I’m not sure of the history e.g. if those schools were just earlier at putting in the kind of institutional control that Stanford is apparently going toward now.
A few years ago the Columbia band led a cheer at home of “Columbia sucks!”. They were forced to publicly apologize to the team and the school. Sometimes, the truth hurts…
I had no idea the the top band mgmt was 100% all female. Very interesting read.
A moving article in support of the band http://www.stanforddaily.com/2016/12/14/as-a-rape-survivor-band-was-my-healing-space/