Bill Schaefer recently posted an observation about the "all male" drum corps being pressured to allow females:

"The two remaining all-male corps going co-ed.

Not once, but on two nights, I heard, at finals weekend, talk of DCI putting heat on The Cavaliers and the Madison Scouts to let females into their corps, because of pressure from Bands of America. It was just fans talking, at the bars, but it's the latest scuttlebutt. Any truth to it? Will it be in 2009?"

Besides THAT, what OTHER aspects of "politically correct" living will be forced on to drum corps?

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

Corps have "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policies. (Saw mention of that on the Q&A section of the Cavaliers site a while back).

I seem to recollect seeing a feature on the last PBS broadcast regarding a young woman who marched with Madison. I think she was the second young lady to do so. The first was the ten year old daughter of the 1970 or 1971 corps director. The girl was Alice in their "Alice and Wonderland Show."

Even if DCI required that a corps admit women (probaly some by-law that addressing non-discrimination relative to gender, racial or sexual orientation), if an organization didn't want someone in their corps, seems to me the corps could eliminate the individual during auditions unless DCI is going to run those too.

What did you do in the Corps? Baritone

What years were you a Corps member? Cadets 1959 to 1961 Imperials 1962 to 1966

Madison has had a girl in their show twice - 1971, Bill Howard's daughter (corps director) played Alice in Wonderland; and a few years back they had a female dancer representing Carmen. Cavaliers never have had a female performer, although they've had one or two female instructors over the years.

Don Warren would fold the corps before he would admit girls, but with him retiring after this year, who knows? I can't imagine it happening, though. So much about that corps is directed to being all-male, from the traditions within the corps to the choice of shows, guard uniforms, etc. It would be a shame if they were forced to integrate. Especially in modern drum corps, it's not like they're cheating local girls, because NOBODY in drum corps is local anymore.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

The "audition" screen might help with some aspects, but there are so many areas for contention:
. racial quotas
. equal access (disabled, blind)
. disadvantaged (poor) people who can't pay the fees

Of course, these are far fetched. Or are they?

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

Bob,

The Madison corps member I was referring too in an earlier post was a brass player.

That wasn't that long ago (last pbs broadcast) and they did a feature on her. As I recollect the later pbs broadcasts probably had more air time for features like that than showing the actual performances.

Well, folks, I have a surprise for y'all. Cavaliers have NOT always been exclusively male.

Back in the early 60s, there was a female that marched with them in parades. Never in a show, but she had a green costume and twirled a baton.

I happen to know this first hand, because I dated her for a time in high school. We led the school marching band together, too.

Ray Holtz also knew her, and she was a friend of one of our guard members.

She ended up married to a Cavalier.

Just proves that any time you say "never" it's probably wrong.

It's a fact, folks. Trust me.

What did you do in the Corps? Drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 1960-1965

Larry,

Now that you mention it, I do recollect them having that girl march with them in a few parades. But was she really a member of the corps?

What did you do in the Corps? Baritone

What years were you a Corps member? Cadets 1959 to 1961 Imperials 1962 to 1966

She was a "guest Cavalier".

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

If you guys saw it, I won't argue. But boy, that's a tough one to believe. I'll do some checking.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare, Drum Major, Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

Pressure from Bands of America?

Why would Bands of America be pressuring these Corps to make them coed? Why would Bands of America interfere, and what differencce does it make to Bands of America? How does it helps Bands of America?

If Bands of America want to see a coed Corps, why don't they startone themselves?

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. These all male Corps are fine just the way they are.

It reminds me of the Brady Bunch when Peter joined the Girl Scouts. If they eliminate all male Corps, then all female corps should be gone too. Then my kids can march in the Bandettes!!!

It is stupid. The more they try to "Fix" Drum Corps, the more watered down it becomes.

What did you do in the Corps? Cymbals, Bass Drum, Tenor

What years were you a Corps member? 1980 - 1983

Jim, the implication is that BOA and DCI are talking about a merger.

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958-63

That has been discussed for years now. If Hopkins has his way, it will happen. Luckily, his corps didn't do so well this summer, which usually makes him shut up for a while.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

You guys were RIGHT! I can't believe it, but it's true. Cavaliers had both a girl AND a guy baton twirler march in parades in the 60s. They were little siblings of marching members, and were not "official" members of the corps.

I can't believe after all these years I never heard about it! And boy, did my inquiry bring out the replies over there! Apparently a LOT of people who marched after that never knew about it and are quite surprised, as I was.

You got me! And that doesn't happen often...

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

Bob,

Sounds like this was an event in Cavalier History that no one wanted to talk about. Baton Twirlers weren't associated with drum corps. My bet is they were related to someone in Cavalier management or a sponsor.

What did you do in the Corps? Baritone

What years were you a Corps member? Cadets 1959 to 1961 Imperials 1962 to 1966

John,

Yes, they were. The story is they were the kids of one of the parent volunteers who had a couple of sons in the corps. Since the little ones had to be there for turnouts anyway, they let them march with the corps. And although I had NEVER heard that story before, when I asked it there were TONS of people jumping to explain it!

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

Hey, every now and then I have something juicy to offer.

Fact is, the girl I was talking about was not related to anyone in the Cavaliers, but was dating one of the members, whom she ultimately married. She was not actually a member, but she marched parades as a Cavalier and, therefore, Cavies have NOT always been exclusively male only.

I don't recall exactly what the relationship was, but her mom might have been part of it. They were true green Cavalier fans. I also recall they sorta enjoyed all of the attention.

What did you do in the Corps? Drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 1960-1965

Larry,

I do remember that baton twirler being older than the kids Bob described. She was probably a sixteen or seventeen years old.

You may want to send Bob all the details and have him pass it on to his Cavalier friends.

What did you do in the Corps? Baritone

What years were you a Corps member? Cadets 1959 to 1961 Imperials 1962 to 1966

She was my age - I dated her and we graduated high school together.

She would have been 17 in 64, and probably marched for a few more years. She was so Cavalier that she didn't want to join a co-ed corps.

Very possible that there were others, but she was the first and set the precedent.

What did you do in the Corps? Drumline

What years were you a Corps member? 1960-1965

The Cavaliers tell the story exactly as you recall it, Larry.

What did you do in the Corps? Snare; Drum Major; Drum Instructor/Arranger

What years were you a Corps member? 1970-73; 78-79

There was a bit of baton twirling in '08, too, out on the field of drum corps competition. I can't remember which corps. (Glassmen?)

Possible scenario:

"Starting in 2009, all drum corps will be required to:

1. Have adequate minority representation in the membership. 50% is the suggested starting percentage.

2. If prospective minority members are not able to pay the required fees, the corps must permit their membership at a reduced rate. After all, they are "entitled" to equal opportunities.

3. A proportional membership number must be reserved for "gay/lesbian" oriented members.

4. Corps must carry flags or banners supporting all the popular movements: Breast Cancer, No Smoking, etc.

5. If the corps is chartered in a Republican state, members must be Republicans. Ditto for a Democratic state. (Alternative: you are allowed to have a mix of members based on National percentages)

6. NO corps is allowed to discriminate on the basis of handicaps. As a result, programs must be designed to provide "reasonable accommodation" to disabled and handicapped people. The courts will decide what is "reasonable".

What did you do in the Corps? drummer

What years were you a Corps member? 1958- 63

7. No more similated murders will be allowed on the field. All murders must be real.

8. In 2010, all corps will be required to murder corps members during their performances.

9. An equal number of people from various races / nationalities, and sexual preferences, and religious preferences must be murdered over a ten year span.

10. Each year, each corps must phase out five marching musicians &/or pit musicians. These corps members must be replaced by five more color guard members. In the somewhat near future, all corps will consist of thespians (color guard) only, with no musicians of any type being allowed on the field, to interfere with the theatrical performances of each corps' color guard.

11. All drinking water faucets in the Lucas Oil Stadium will be turned off, just as they were in 2006, at Madison, and similar to 2008, at Bloomington, IN, where there were none. The Rose Bowl has been reprimanded for having drinking water faucets actually working, for fans, in 2007. DCI will not return there. The price of bottled water will be doubled each year, from the 2008 price, for fans, of $4 per bottle. DCI needs this source of income in order to continue operations.

12. DCI will be booking hotels and motels for the 2009 finals, for fans, in Bloomington, IN, a one hour shuttle bus drive to Indianapolis. This will satisfy all those fans who made the one hour shuttle bus ride from Indianapolis to Bloomington, in 2008, twice per day, for all three days of finals. Yes, of course, the one hour drive back to the hotels and motels will again be available to these fans.

13. All fans must be totally silent at finals, starting in 2009, so that we can be sure that judges are not affected by the fans.