(The following is an actual letter sent to the President of Seminole Junior College [Seminole, Oklahoma] concerning a legendary band trip to El Paso that occurred in 1982.).
TO: President Elmer Tanner
FROM: Jim Cook and Bob Trammell
DATE: December 3, 1982
RE: Behavior of Students During Band Trip to El Paso
Following an investigation of the allegations of some band members that male and female students showered together, slept together, and that many band members drank alcoholic beverages in their motel rooms and on the college bus, we present the following report.
On Thursday December 2 and Friday December 3, 1982, we interviewed 13 students and the band director concerning the allegations of improper behavior. It is our opinion that three this occurred about which there is no doubt: (1) There was consumption of alcoholic beverages on the college bus on the way to El Paso and in the motel rooms of students during the one night at Carlsbad, New Mexico and the two nights at El Paso.; (2) Students did not stay in their assigned rooms. Several students admitted to being in mixed company in motel rooms until 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. in the morning; (3) The supervision excersised (sp) on this trip was lax. No disciplinary action took place when students were drinking on the college bus, no action was taken against any student who became intoxicated or unruly, no bed checks were made and no curfews set for students..
Based on all of the testimony we have heard, we believe te following actions should be taken:
1 Mr. R----------, band trip supervisor, should be reprimanded for not keeping a closer eye on the activities of his band members.
2 A policy statement concerning College Sponsored Trips such as the one attacehed should be approved and placed in the Student Handbook. (I have chosen not to include this rather boring section of the document).
3 The SJC Band should be placed on disciplinary probation fror the Spring 1983 semester. Such probation would mean that any improper behavior which violated the policy on College Sponsored Trips would result in the band being barred from ANY overnight trips for the remainder of the semester.
++++++++++++++++++++
Okay, 25 years have passed since that legendary journey to El Paso, the main intent being to march in the Sun Bowl parade. Obviously OUR intent was to have as much fun as possible, which I daresay is exactly what we did. It was an unforgettable trip and no doubt, had we not carried on the way we did, it would have been forgotten by now.: the one highlight of a boring Jr. College education quelled by good manners and strict supervision.
I was one of the 13 students these administration fuddy-duddys interviewed. I maintained then, to all my friends, and I maintain now that I did not snitch. I was not one of the students who let the cat out of the bag. I always had a pretty good idea which ones DID, but I also had a suspicion that they were in the minority, and that the boom was lowered on the band because some people just didn’t like Mr. R-------, the director. They used this as an excuse to push him closer to the early retirement they desired for him. Don’t ask me why, but I will tell you this…if it were the mighty Trojan basketball team, doing the exact same things we did, nothing would have been said. I don’t know that for a fact, but I’d bet serious money on it.
So, while my memory is still strong enough to remember a good amount of details about the fiasco (the stuff I didn’t tell the administrators about, that is), I would like to set the record straight insomuch as I am able, touching on each of the three points that caused so much consternation in the faculty of this vaunted institution of learning:
1 Re: consumption of alcoholic beverages on the College bus and in the motel rooms. Hell yes, there was some serious drinking going on. We weren’t in Jr. High school, we were in Jr. College. What the fuck did they expect? This is one point that I am almost 100% sure that the band was being singled out where the athletic team would have gotten away with it. Maybe the jocks were better at hiding it, but it would seem to me that anyone in college with an urge to drink will find that urge at it’s strongest on a bus trip out of state and in the motel rooms the night before the game. We made a short visit to Mexico the day before we left and a few of the guys bought some cheap tequila. You didn’t expect them to wait until they got home to open up those bottles of authentic Mexican hooch, did you? Of course not. I tell you, there were a couple of girls who were so sloshed that they had to be held down or they would have allowed themselves to be impregnated by a multitude of the fellers. Who said there was no supervision? We held ‘em down, didn’t we? Mr. R------had more important matters to attend to. And I’ll never forget the rank stench of tequila that permeated the bus on the way back to Oklahoma. To this day I cannot abide that smell. For the record, if recollection serves, I only had about a 6-pack of Budweiser myself. Not that 3.2 swill you have to settle for here, though. The good stuff. And I never got “fall-down drunk”, either…which is why I can recall so much of this.
2 Re: Students not staying in assigned rooms and being in mixed company until the wee hours of the morn. I was married to my first wife then, and she wasn’t in the band…seeing as how I was more or less a faithful husband, no sexual shenanigans were undertaken by yours truly. Not that there weren’t a couple of fine looking women I wouldn’t have minded sleeping with, hardy har har. Note that the document dampens down the situation by referring to it as “students admitting to being in mixed company in motel rooms”…is that ALL they admitted to? I can tell you what they were apparently unwilling to admit: they were fucking like bunny rabbits. In some cases weird, kinky & freaky shit was going on. For instance, JL, JM & KC were assigned to a room. JL & JM had girlfriends in the band who were there (temporary girlfriends is more like it). The first night in Carlsbad these two guys decided they were up for a good screwing. The only logistically possible way for them and their gals to get it on was to do it in the room where the three guys were booked. As to why all 4 decided to the deed AT THE SAME TIME (albeit in separate beds) is beyond my ability to reason out. Other than it sounds like it might be fun (tee hee). But that’s what they did. Which is funny enough, but what takes the cake is that they locked KC, their other Bunkie, in the closet while they did it! He just sat in there listening to the festivities. It is commonly believed, by all involved that, KC is the first, and one of the very few, who snitched when the inquisition came around.
3 Re: “Lax” supervision, no disciplinary action, no bedchecks & no curfews. We were all old enough to join the military, fight and die for our country, old enough to cast one vote in a Presidential election…Bed checks??? Curfews??? What the fuck? We did the job we went there to do---we promoted the College (in addition to marching in the parade, our jazz band also represented the college, quite well I might add, at a college mixer). None of our “:indiscretions” were of a public nature ie. We didn’t exactly give the Jr. College a black eye. Nothing would have come of it had not some bastard with a bone to pick spilled his guts to an administrator. Even then, the college could have sat on it. Had they done so there would have been no article in the college newspaper, the college would not have suffered the bad publicity it did as a result. The band would have probably have received a stern lecture from the director (who we all loved and respected) and we would have been allowed to go to the other out-of-state events we were scheduled to attend. A couple more chances to promote the college thrown out like baby with bath water because some prude suit decided we should act like pre-teens. Mr. R------- did the right thing. He gave us freedom to enjoy ourselves, he didn’t feel the need to treat us as children (with bed checks, for Christ’s sake), and most importantly, he didn’t let it get out of hand and spill out into the public. It is almost a sure bet that the only ones who knew about the goings on of the Seminole Jr. College band before the snitch ratted ‘em out were the members of the Seminole Jr. College Band and them alone. So what was the BFD? We didn’t have to answer to our parents, we were all over 18, why were we expected to answer to President Tanner?
FUCK PRESIDENT TANNER!
Ha! 25 years later, I finally speak my mind. Damn sure should have done it back then. So what if I would have been expelled? That place wasn’t worth attending anyway without the band and Mr. R--------.
TO: President Elmer Tanner
FROM: Jim Cook and Bob Trammell
DATE: December 3, 1982
RE: Behavior of Students During Band Trip to El Paso
Following an investigation of the allegations of some band members that male and female students showered together, slept together, and that many band members drank alcoholic beverages in their motel rooms and on the college bus, we present the following report.
On Thursday December 2 and Friday December 3, 1982, we interviewed 13 students and the band director concerning the allegations of improper behavior. It is our opinion that three this occurred about which there is no doubt: (1) There was consumption of alcoholic beverages on the college bus on the way to El Paso and in the motel rooms of students during the one night at Carlsbad, New Mexico and the two nights at El Paso.; (2) Students did not stay in their assigned rooms. Several students admitted to being in mixed company in motel rooms until 3:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. in the morning; (3) The supervision excersised (sp) on this trip was lax. No disciplinary action took place when students were drinking on the college bus, no action was taken against any student who became intoxicated or unruly, no bed checks were made and no curfews set for students..
Based on all of the testimony we have heard, we believe te following actions should be taken:
1. Mr. R----------, band trip supervisor, should be reprimanded for not keeping a closer eye on the activities of his band members.
2. A policy statement concerning College Sponsored Trips such as the one attacehed should be approved and placed in the Student Handbook. (I have chosen not to include this rather boring section of the document).
3. The SJC Band should be placed on disciplinary probation for the Spring 1983 semester. Such probation would mean that any improper behavior which violated the policy on College Sponsored Trips would result in the band being barred from ANY overnight tri[s for the remainder of the semester.
++++++++++++++++++++
Okay, 25 years have passed since that legendary journey to El Paso, the main intent being to march in the Sun Bowl parade. Obviously OUR intent was to have as much fun as possible, which I daresay we did. It was an unforgettable trip and no doubt, had we not carried on the way we did, it would have been forgotten by now.: the one highlight of a boring Jr. College education quelled by good manners and strict supervision.
I was one of the 13 students these administration fuddy-duddys interviewed. I maintained then, to all my friends, and I maintain now that I did not snitch. I was not one of the students who let the cat out of the bag. I always had a pretty good idea which ones DID, but I also had a suspicion that they were in the minority, and that the boom was lowered on the band because some people just didn't like the director. They used this as an excuse to push him closer to the early retirement they desired for him. Don’t ask me why, but I will tell you this…if it were the mighty Trojan basketball team, doing the exact same things we did, nothing would have been said. I don’t know that for a fact, but I’d bet serious money on it.
So, while my memory is still strong enough to remember a good amount of details about the fiasco (the stuff I didn’t tell the administrators about, that is), I would like to set the record straight insomuch as I am able, touching on each of the three points that caused so much consternation in the faculty of this vaunted institution of learning:
1. Re: consumption of alcoholic beverages on the College bus and in the motel rooms. Hell yes, there was some serious drinking going on. We weren’t in Jr. High school, we were in Jr. College. What the fuck did they expect? This is one point that I am almost 100% sure that the band was being singled out where the athletic team got away with it. Maybe the jocks were better at hiding it, but it would seem to me that anyone in college with a urge to drink will find that urge at it’s strongest on a bus trip out of state and in the motel rooms the night before the game. We made a short visit to Mexico the day before we left and a few of the guys bought some cheap tequila. You did'nt expect them to wait until they got home to open up those bottles of authentic Mexican hooch, did you? Of course not. I tell you, there were a couple of girls who were so sloshed that they had to be held down or they would have allowed themselves to be impregnated by a multitude of the fellers. Who said there was no supervision? We held ‘em down, didn’t we? And I’ll never forget the rank smell of tequila that permeated the bus on the way back to Oklahoma. To this day I cannot abide that smell. For the record, if recollection serves, I only had about a 6-pack of Budweiser myself. Not that 3.2 swill you have to settle for here, though. The good stuff. And I never got “fall-down drunk”, either…which is why I can recall so much of this.
2. Re: Students not staying in assigned rooms and being in mixed company until the wee hours of the morn. I was married to my first wife then, and she wasn’t in the band…seeing as how I was more or less a faithful husband, no sexual shenanigans were undertaken by yours truly. Not that there weren’t a couple of fine looking women I wouldn’t have minded sleeping with, hardy har har. Note that the document dampens down the situation by rreferring to it as “students admitting to being in mixed company in motel rooms”…is that ALL they admitted to? I can tell you what they were apparently unwilling to admit: they were fucking like bunny rabbits. In some cases weird, kinky & freaky shit was going on. For instance, JL, JM & KC were assigned to a room. JL & JM had girlfriends in the band who were there (temporary girlfriends is more like it). The first night in Carlsbad these two guys decided they were up for a good screwing. The only logistically possible way for them and their gals to get it on was to do it in the room where the three guys were booked. As to why all 4 decided to the deed at the same time is beyond my ability to reason out, other than it sounds like it might be fun. But that’s what they did. Which is funny enough, but what takes the cake is that they locked KC, their other Bunkie, in the closet while they did it! He just sat in there listening to the festivities. It is commonly believed by all involved that KC is one of the few who snitched when the inquisition came around.
3. Re: “Lax” supervision, no disciplinary action, no bed checks & no curfews. We were all old enough to join the military, fight and die for our country, old enough to cast one vote in a Presidential election…Bed checks??? Curfews??? What the fuck? We did the job we went there to do (in addition to marching in the parade, our jazz band also represented the college, quite well I might add, at a college mixer), none of our “:indiscretions” were of a public nature ie. We didn’t exactly give the Jr. College a bad eye…nothing would have come of it had not some bastard with a bone to pick spilled his guts to an administrator. Even then, the college could have sat on it. Had they done that there would have been no article in the college newspaper, the college would not have suffered the “black eye” it did as a result, the band would have probably have received a stern lecture from the director (who we all loved and respected) and we would have gotten to go to the other out-of-state events we were scheduled to attend. A couple more chances to promote the college thrown out like baby with bath water because some prude suit decided we should act like pre-teens. Mr. R------- did the right thing. He gave us freedom to enjoy ourselves, he didn’t feel the need to treat us as children (with bed checks, for Christ’s sake), and most importantly, he didn’t let it get out of hand and spill out into the public. It is almost a sure bet that the only ones who knew about the goings on of the Seminole Jr. College band before the snitch ratted ‘em out were the members of the Seminole Jr. College Band. So what was the BFD? We didn’t have to answer to our parents, we were all over 18, why were we expected to answer to President Tanner?
FUCK PRESIDENT TANNER!
Ha! 25 years later, I finally speak my mind. Damn sure should have done it back then. So what if I would have been expelled? That place wasn’t worth attending anyway without the band and Mr. R--------.
Please excuse the few grammatical errors I've left uncorrected in this post. I don't feel like messing with them right now...I never was good with DID'NT or WAS'NT. Sorry.
