Jonathan Waters has an offer for Ohio State University: If school leaders reinstate him as director of the marching band, he will help fix the band's culture. In his first interview since Ohio State fired him on July 24, the former marching band director told The Dispatch that his dismissal was based on a "very flawed, very inaccurate report." Still, he offered to return and help rid the band of offensive traditions that he said date back decades.

Jonathan Waters has an offer for Ohio State University: If school leaders reinstate him as director of the marching band, he will help fix the band�s culture.

In his first interview since Ohio State fired him on July 24, the former marching band director told The Dispatch that his dismissal was based on a �very flawed, very inaccurate report.� Still, he offered to return and help rid the band of offensive traditions that he said date back decades.

�I love my job, and I would love to absolutely come back to lead those students that I love, and to engage in the work that unfortunately I was not permitted to finish,� Waters said. �My hope in all of this is that Ohio State will� the university that I love� will take a step back and engage me in a dialogue as to the cultural issues that were reported.�

Full coverage: Ohio State Band controversy

Waters, 38, hasn�t pitched his offer to Ohio State, but the ousted director is scheduled to make his case on two national television shows in New York this morning.

University officials, though, said yesterday that they are moving forward with two new leaders from within the School of Music. Russel C. Mikkelson, the director of university bands, and Scott A. Jones, the associate director of university bands, will lead the marching band as interim directors for the upcoming school year.

�I unequivocally support the decision to terminate the former marching-band director and the measures taken to ensure that the culture of the marching band aligns with our institutional values,� Jeffrey Wadsworth, chairman of the OSU board of trustees, said in a statement yesterday.

Waters, during an hourlong interview in his attorney�s Downtown office, said there were problems with the band�s culture but that it wasn�t the Animal House atmosphere portrayed by the university. An OSU investigation found last month that there was a �sexualized� culture that opened the door to sexual harassment. The mother of a band member had complained, triggering the inquiry.

Students gave one another dirty nicknames and performed pranks and traditions that sometimes had a sexual bent, the report found.

Waters, wearing an OSU pin on his lapel, said yesterday that parts of the report just aren�t true.

According to the report, OSU officials had urged Waters to take training on federal discrimination rules after a report of sexual harassment in the athletic band. Waters �made no effort to schedule any training,� the report said. But Waters said no one ever recommended that training.

�I stand by the fact that I would never turn down any kind of sexual-

harassment training or education,� said Waters, who added that all band students and workers go through an annual seminar on the topic.

He also denied that, in the same harassment case, he tried to punish both students: the man who was accused of harassment and the woman who reported it. Investigators wrote that Waters tried to exclude both students from a band trip, which could have been seen as retaliation against a victim.

�I merely reported that to the university, and they made the decisions about the students and their participation,� Waters said.

He declined to give details about a separate sexual assault in the marching band last year, except to say that he handled it �by the letter of the law.�

More broadly, Waters criticized the report because it relies on interviews with only about 10 current or former band members and because many of the traditions predate his time as director.

Ohio State officials declined to respond directly to Waters� remarks.

For much of the interview, Waters explained how he had been trying to change the band culture. He persuaded students to stop an annual midnight practice in which many students wore only underwear. He punished students who used offensive nicknames for other students.

But his 21 months as director wasn�t enough time to change an �entrenched� culture that started in the 1930s, he said.

�First off, I will say that I didn�t know that there was a stopwatch running to address cultural issues. And secondly, I will also tell you that at no point did anyone tell me that the culture of the Ohio State University marching band needed to be changed,� Waters said. �I knew that, and that�s why I took steps to engage in culture-shaping and cultural change.�

Waters became director in 2012 but had been with the band in some role since 1995. After marching as a student, he stayed as a graduate assistant and then became assistant director. That experience, Waters said, makes him uniquely qualified to fix the problems in the band.

�I was in the culture. I know what made me uncomfortable. I know the things that happened years ago, and as director I had the opportunity finally to address those issues and to take steps to improve that culture,� he said. �As I said, it doesn�t change overnight.�

Still, he describes the culture of the band much differently than the report does. He said band members should be known for their stunning performances, for their volunteer work at soup kitchens and with youth groups, and for helping a marching band at the Ohio State School for the Blind.

Waters and his attorney, David Axelrod, haven�t considered taking legal action, they said. For now, Waters said he is leaving the decision to OSU leaders.

�It�s not my action to take to reverse the dismissal,� he said. �I am here telling my story, and I am here to set the record straight after the report was issued. And those decision-makers will have to come to that conclusion.�

cbinkley@dispatch.com

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