Dive Brief:
- Three days after spending more than $20,000 on newspaper ads criticizing University of Oklahoma President David Boren, members of the school’s marching band accepted his invitation to meet.
- Boren struck down the university’s ban on any criticism by band members of the band or its leadership when he learned about the rule on Friday, a university spokeswoman told NewsOk.com.
- Most of the complaints from the 50 to 60 members attending Monday’s meeting were about the poor teaching skills of the band's director, Justin Stolarik.
Dive Insight:
The ads got Boren’s attention. He told the students at the meeting that he didn’t take their complaints lightly, and that he would decide what to do by the end of the week, NewsOK reported. Some of the band member complaints were about a lack of feedback during rehearsals and poor organizational skills. About a third of the students at the meeting were music majors.