After 116 years of playing music, the marching band at Columbia University is canceling itself.
Members voted 'unanimously and enthusiastically' to disband after 116 years, declaring itself 'founded on the basis of racism, cultural oppression, misogyny, and sexual harassment." The move follows letters from alumni arguing the band is oppressive and harmful. The New York university band, formed in 1904, had long been known for "irreverent" performances, and the administration banned it from football games last year. It had also been stripped of university funding.
The Saturday meeting came after multiple postings on a Columbia Confessions Facebook page complained about band members engaging in lewd behavior and using a Native American war cry at games; former band members also recalled sexual harassment at band parties and sex in which band members were too drunk to consent.
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