For the past few months, on the advice of counsel, my former board and employer, and friends and family, I have sat by and listened as people assassinated my character and made allegations that were not true. The lawyers and the supporters who have told me that staying silent was the right thing to do were well intentioned, and in fact, for a period of time, saying nothing was the best advice. My legal team has been nothing but fantastic in assisting me through this maze of challenges.

Needless to say, this is like nothing I have ever experienced. However, as we move past the 9 month mark since the first published allegations, I believe now that it is important to my future, my past students, my colleagues in the world of marching band, my friends and others that I speak to those situations towards which I can now comment.

Sitting back reading and hearing things about yourself that are so out of character is not an easy thing to do. When I read about the George Hopkins the people on the chat rooms or the reporters in the Inquirer write about, I assume they are talking about someone else, because I know for certain they aren’t talking about me. They couldn’t be talking about me because this George Hopkins has never done any of the things that they said.

I’ve been living a nightmare because of these attacks and I cannot simply be quiet any longer. Therefore, it’s my hope that I can start telling my side of the story here, for those who are actually interested in hearing both sides. From the outset of the sensational article the Inquirer published, to the chat rooms and follow up articles, one thing has been clear — many people are not interested in a conversation about these allegations. They are interested in a public shaming — truth be damned. I get it — conversations don’t get clicks and in today’s day and age that is what the “media” is interested in achieving. Long form discussions are a thing of the past.

But I also receive many private messages, e-mails, and other communications from friends, followers and fans of the Cadets. Many have proven to be very, very supportive and frankly, the outreach has allowed me to keep my head in the air. Sure, folks are afraid to come forward in such an attack prone atmosphere but still, I do appreciate the support. Indeed, In the early days, of this crisis, board members protected themselves, dear friends were threatened and even now, folks are warned via closed Facebook accounts to keep their distance from me. It is difficult to offer public support.

So, let’s start at the beginning. This entire series of attacks are the result of a small group of Cadets’ alumni having a vendetta against me because I did not run the drum corps the way they may have preferred. In their eyes, I was not accountable; I was not responsive to their desires, and some have worked for years to get me fired; others appear to have added onto the effort in recent times. From uniforms, to C2, to the location of the office, staff selections, and office management — the critics have had a ton to say. Many times, what was offered to the world via social media was NOT the truth. Details were ignored, and even back a few years, allegations were presented without the balanced information one would think necessary

For a solid decade, efforts to remove me have been unsuccessful — perhaps because of our success on the field and the unprecedented program we built — and yet some folks steadfastly committed to making sure they achieved their goal of my being removed through any means necessary. While I am not going to get into the details at this time, rest assured that my confidence level is high that this was an orchestrated smear to accomplish what my detractors were unable to accomplish through complaints and lobbying the board. That confidence is based on hard evidence

I will admit that I have been a tough person to work with at times. My passion for my work spilled out into the way I treated some people, and obviously in reflection I am sorry that was the case. But make no mistake, I have never acted inappropriately with a woman. As I have stated countless times, these allegations either were consensual acts or never happened. No one will be able to prove otherwise because that is the truth.

As I mentioned, the past few months have been tough. It has been difficult to turn the other cheek, to stay quiet, and to not defend my name and work. I have turned to God, to my friends and family and to many books, articles and life time learning in an effort to keep some stability in my life. “BE HERE NOW” may be the best advice I have hung onto. I work to assist the attorneys in preparation. I work to make good out of what is clearly a mess.

I am hopeful that this is a “medium” for me to talk to everyone about the kind of life I have lived and the kind of person I am. I was privileged to serve Youth Education in the Arts and the Cadets for close to 40 years. Over 5000 young people marched in the Cadets since 1980, multiple programs were launched and many exciting developments occurred over decades.

I think it is time we have a conversation — not a one-sided discussion dictated by those who have great anger towards me.

In the coming weeks and months, I will talk about all of that and more here. I hope you’ll read my thoughts, keep an open mind, and most importantly remember that presumption of innocence that is enshrined in our Constitution. It’s there to protect people from wrongful accusations, and I think when all is said and all is done we will see that those protections are applicable here.

Thanks for reading,

George Hopkins