[2006alum]

I posted this under the White Plaza Rally thread, but it 59ers repeating here:

I plan to lodge a formal written complaint against the banning of the Band.  A "sanitized", under-administration-controlled Band is just not acceptable.  I want to know there is a place where Stanford students (and alumni--us "old fartz") can be irreverent, rebellious, and yes, even offensive.  Free speech (and behavior) at its rankest.  Truth be told, I enjoyed p*ssing off and getting booed by the Michigan State fans at the 2014 Rose Bowl (and cheered by the Rose Parade crowd).  Loved that the Iowa fans hated our cow.
Hey, I have a photo of my dad in his Navy uniform giving the thumb-nose-open palm sign at a building on the Stanford campus during WWII.  Crikey, he was named after Leland Stanford and had no inkling I'd become a proud alum 30+ odd years later.  Can't we lighten up and just enjoy the hijinks of our younger, less mature counterparts?  They'll have plenty of opportunities to conform and become predictable (boring?) after they graduate.

+1. I am a longtime donor to Stanford, I was a Vice Chair of my Class's Reunion Committee, and I am one of the class correspondents for my class year. I plan to withdraw from all of these roles going forward if the University follows through on the threat to install an outside music director and independent selection in the Tree and the Dollies. There is no way The Band will remain The Band if this happens, and I see no reason why I should volunteer my time and resources to a University so bent on crushing student freedom and creativity.

The way I see it is this: the Leland Stanford Junior University I went to valued student leadership, creativity, and exploration over control and homogeneity. Installing an outside musical director suggests that Stanford now values control and homogeneity over student leadership, creativity, and exploration. If so, then the Stanford in existence now is not the Stanford I attended, and so my substantial and lengthy volunteer engagement would be contributing to an institution and a community I no longer recognize or share an affinity with.

[2006alum]

I posted this under the White Plaza Rally thread, but it 59ers repeating here:

I plan to lodge a formal written complaint against the banning of the Band.  A "sanitized", under-administration-controlled Band is just not acceptable.  I want to know there is a place where Stanford students (and alumni--us "old fartz") can be irreverent, rebellious, and yes, even offensive.  Free speech (and behavior) at its rankest.  Truth be told, I enjoyed p*ssing off and getting booed by the Michigan State fans at the 2014 Rose Bowl (and cheered by the Rose Parade crowd).  Loved that the Iowa fans hated our cow.
Hey, I have a photo of my dad in his Navy uniform giving the thumb-nose-open palm sign at a building on the Stanford campus during WWII.  Crikey, he was named after Leland Stanford and had no inkling I'd become a proud alum 30+ odd years later.  Can't we lighten up and just enjoy the hijinks of our younger, less mature counterparts?  They'll have plenty of opportunities to conform and become predictable (boring?) after they graduate.

+1. I am a longtime donor to Stanford, I was a Vice Chair of my Class's Reunion Committee, and I am one of the class correspondents for my class year. I plan to withdraw from all of these roles going forward if the University follows through on the threat to install an outside music director and independent selection in the Tree and the Dollies. There is no way The Band will remain The Band if this happens, and I see no reason why I should volunteer my time and resources to a University so bent on crushing student freedom and creativity.

The way I see it is this: the Leland Stanford Junior University I went to valued student leadership, creativity, and exploration over control and homogeneity. Installing an outside musical director suggests that Stanford now values control and homogeneity over student leadership, creativity, and exploration. If so, then the Stanford in existence now is not the Stanford I attended, and so my substantial and lengthy volunteer engagement would be contributing to an institution and a community I no longer recognize or share an affinity with.