re: Pride of the Southland Band Director Gary Sousa has been FIRED

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College and University politics at the 'administration' level rival politics anywhere. Petty, nasty, personal, and often mind-bogglingly silly.

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Most people forget that it's the presidents and chancellors of the individual institutions that actually run this conference.

Mike Slive is just the face of the conference.

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Not a problem.
You're a great poster.

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Rightbackatcha!

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TigersOfGeauxld

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You got that right. Chancellors and Presidents run every aspect of it yet very few are aware of that. They have their own agendas -- sometimes good but sometimes not so good. For example, I want my president and chancellor looking out for the entire university BUT I don't want them so concerned with pet projects that they forget other depts., student activities, and sports they're not forced to pay attention to. I also don't want them to take a Sports vs. Academics outlook or get involved in the politics that go on at any given school that they act stupidly and/or vindictively. People would not believe how immature, vindictive, and cliquish the administration can be -- not just Chancellors and Presidents either basically from the Dept. level on up.

As to how corrupt these jackwads tend to be... UT went through:

John D. Petersen, 2004-2009 - forced to resign because of prolonged tension between him and faculty among other things, basically sucked at leading, faculty senate voted 'no confidence and limited confidence' in his ability to lead by a staggering 71 percent!
John W. Shumaker, 2002–2003 - stole from UT and nearly got run outta town on a rail. After he left the audit found that he bought a 7k Persian rug, 64k home communications system, 97k for new sunroom, 77k for bedroom expansions and everyone's favorite - a 4,822k gas grill - and MUCH MORE all with UT funds.
J. Wade Gilley, 1999–2001 - Pulled a Bobby Petrino and hired his mistress, giving her newly created job in a newly created interdisciplinary research center. And much more.

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Wasn't the big issue that Sousa told band members to start a social media assault against UT administration? They suspended (and ultimately terminated) him for subordination, correct?

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That's what Cheek et al claimed but POTS members made clear they went to the media on their own. They also shared very specific reasons that pushed them to go to the press -- they felt they were being treated like dirt and gave personal examples that had nothing to do with Sousa or alleged misleading info. Sousa didn't actively discourage them even though the Admin felt like he was supposed to and Sousa also lifted a very old and outdated ban on POTS members speaking to the press that probably shouldn't have been there to begin with since it's established students have the right to free speech.

After students caused a ruckus/went on social media and on air spilling what was going on to the media, Sousa defended them in the press and related what he'd been told to media. THAT was more than enough for the university to claim he was insubordinate.

The admin thinks he started it but the students debunk that theory. People are split but I believe the students on this. From my own experience on campus as well as knowing Sousa's rep/popularity level with students, I highly doubt Sousa could get students to do this. It's not impressionable do-whatever-the-teacher-says grade school students we're talking about but college students. Sousa never had the personality to convince students to protest for him - he's never been beloved. The real reason he got into so much shite, imo, is he has never been good at politics or even social politeness -- he's more like a band nerd with asperger's although it's said he can be warm or helpful he's not charismatic. You couple that with the social illiterates that tend to work in admins and the only surprising thing is they didn't find a reason to get rid of him sooner. And, FWIW, I'm not a fan of Sousa, I just know how bad college and university admins can be including UT's.

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At any rate... the Pride really does deserve a director that can fill his shoes given their history.

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Isn't South Carolina's band director a Tennessee alum? Any chance he may get a chance to return home?

How in the Hell is this thread 6 pages long?????


I guess it 's because idiots like me continue to post on it. Bring on miraculous page 7.

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Lee Greenwood? Dude that hasn't happened in ages.

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I think I remember him being at UT in 2003 or 2004 when we played there. I was in MSU's pep band.

There were a lot of disgruntled fans at LSU recently regarding the band, but they definitely stepped it up this season for halftime.

TGBFTL started getting a reputation for playing the same songs over and over. They could still benefit from a wider selection but for the most part, the halftime shows were entertaining this season.

Their Veterans Day tribute was a pretty awesome show which ended in them creating a moving tank formation that "fired" rounds. I was impressed.

*** Sorry this was mildly off topic. Just showing support for university bands.

Wow, Sousa actually contracted with Under Armour while the university has an exclusive contract with Adidas. I'd say that was his fatal error. Music Department admins have giant egos at most schools but Sousa's is over the top.

The band must have misspelled "T" before one of the games.

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The band must have misspelled "T" before one of the games.

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There was a horrible accident involving our drum major. Who knew that backwards leaning high-stepping could go so terribly wrong.