OSU rejects request for hearing by band director

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Ohio State rejected the latest appeal for reconsideration by its fired marching band director Wednesday, rejecting Jonathan Waters’ request to schedule a public hearing that would allow him an opportunity to defend his reputation.

In a letter to university officials, Jonathan Waters’ attorney said this “name-clearing hearing” is called for because the university violated due-process rights that Waters was guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. Attorney David Axelrod said Waters would need about two business days to question university employees sufficiently to restore his reputation.

University spokesman Chris Davey said the issue of Waters’ dismissal will not be revisited.

“It is closed, and it is time to move on,” he said in a statement.

Waters was dismissed July 24 after a two-month university investigation concluded he knew about or reasonably should have known about but failed to stop a “sexualized culture” of rituals within the band that included students marching partially-clad, playing groping games on buses, bestowing sometimes sexually explicit nicknames and publishing lewd newsletters and a songbook.

He had directed what’s known to fans as The Best Damn Band in The Land since 2012. His halftime shows drew millions of hits on YouTube.