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NewsvineOriginally published on Mar. 8
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Nine students charged with Fundamental Standard violations stemming from the vandalism of the Band Shak last July have been held "not responsible" by the Office of Judicial Affairs, the Band said yesterday.
The Judicial Affairs panel decided that eight of the nine students appearing before it had damaged property, according to Band members involved, but that none had violated the Fundamental Standard.
The latest development comes after almost eight months of uncertainty for Band members. The Band Shak near Encina Hall and the Serra Complex was vandalized the night of July 17, 2006.
During the ensuing police investigation, nine students were identified and implicated in the incident. On Sept. 14, the University placed the Band on indefinite provisional status as a student organization, named Associate Dean Chris Griffith as its interim director and assigned her the task of approving performances. In November, the Santa Clara County district attorney's office decided not to press criminal charges.
The Daily contacted several administrators - including representatives of the Athletic Department, Student Affairs and University Communications - seeking comment on the ajudication but they were unable to speak about the issue, citing the Judicial Charter's ban on discussion of any proceedings.
Although initial damage estimates offered by the University ranged from $30,000 to $50,000, the Band says that the actual damage was around $8,000. As far as the students involved were aware, they said the old Band Shak modular was going to be destroyed by the University after the Band moved out its decorations, equipment and files into its new Band Shak near the former DeGuerre Squash Courts.
"Prior to the incident, the band was not given the indication that the facility would be preserved after we moved out," said Band Manager Adam Cohen '07, in a release sent yesterday as a response to inquiries by The Daily. "The vandalism was absolutely a mistake, but these are still fundamentally good people we're talking about, and I'm glad that the panel chose to consider the context of their actions."
One of the students whose case was adjudicated last Friday agreed to speak candidly about the incident proceedings in exchange for anonymity.
"[As the Band was moving out of the Band Shak modular], there were Band members that were occasionally damaging the building, inadvertently and intentionally, with little regard to the fact that the building would be used again," the suspended Band member said. "We had little reason not to [damage the Band Shak]. Once one person started doing something, the others followed suit. It did not get far out of hand."
Members of the Band were optimistic about the recent ruling. The suspended member described the Judicial Affairs process as "long and drawn out."
"I am looking forward to this chapter closing," he said. The end of the Judicial Affairs case "will be the punctuation mark."