On Sunday, the Stanford Tree announced on social media that it has been suspended after displaying a “Stanford Hates Fun” banner along with the help of Sparky the Sun Devil during halftime of the football game against Arizona State. Upon doing some digging into the matter, CardinalSportsReport.com has learned a few more details of why this happened and what it means for the participation of the Stanford Tree at future sporting events this season.
Yahoo! Sports: Stanford suspends tree mascot after it opened a 'Stanford Hates Fun' banner at a game
The first thing to understand is that from what has been gathered, it is the current Stanford Tree that has been suspended. A former tree will step in and fulfill the role of being the Stanford Tree until the current one has been reinstated. They were looking into having some random student fill in, but then a former tree stepped in to save the day. On the Stanford Tree Twitter account, the former tree who will be stepping in indicated that the current tree will resume duties come winter quarter.
The second thing that has been learned is that the individuals who made this decision is a committee put together by band director Russ Gavin. It was not higher ups in university administration. The committee had a conversation on their internal Slack that they initially wanted to be kept private but later decided to release publicly on Reddit:
"The students on the LSJUMB Executive Committee (@embo) have made the decision to temporarily suspend Jordan from the position of Tree. This is is due to the use of the elevated platform of Tree without going through or inquiring about appropriate processes and therefore violating the norms and expectations of the position, as well as the trust of the LSJUMB. We want to emphasize that this is a violation of process and that the content of the banner's message has no bearing on the suspension."
The third thing that has been learned as a result of what was revealed in the Slack message is that the current tree went rogue here and did this without consent from Gavin or anyone in the LSJUMB Executive Committee. The tree did something that wasn't approved and got suspended for it. There wasn't anything nefarious about it. It just wasn't approved. In order to get something approved, it would ultimately need to get approval from the committee. By not getting approval from that committee, the tree is in violation of band rules and policies.
As for whether or not the suspension of Jordan [the current Stanford Tree] is justified, on the surface it seems so because he broke band rules and didn’t follow band protocol. On those grounds it’s an open-and-shut case. However, there is a deeper undercurrent that makes this not so straightforward. From what has been learned, band members are upset about this and they’re not upset at Jordan. They’re upset at the leadership for making this decision. The feeling is he got suspended for a very ordinary, run of the mill protest.
You have to kind of read between the lines a bit, but there appears to be frustration with how administration has more guardianship and oversight over the band than in previous generations. The students used to call the shots for band, but now the band director (Russ Gavin) and administration have a lot more power. This feels like a case, at least to some in the band, that Jordan is being unfairly punished so that the band will avoid collective punishment. That he’s being scapegoated out of fear for what administration will do if they themselves don’t take action.
And it appears as though this has been a recurring issue. Band leadership throwing a student or a group of students under the bus to save their own skins. They don’t want to fall on their own sword, so they make someone else to be the culprit.
So, while it is true that band leadership is the ones who made the decision to suspend Jordan from the position of Tree, it needs to be understood that the vibe around those in the band is that this action was taken as a result of the ever so tightening grip that administration and Gavin have over band. So in a way, the suspension of Jordan proves the very thesis of his discontent.
Now, it needs to be understood that this position is largely from sources who have a less than favorable view towards how administration has treated band over the past few years. The ultimate dream for some would be for band to be a completely self-governing body that has no oversight from administration whatsoever. Given that they do represent Stanford University at sporting events and are one of the more recognizable organizations on campus, it probably isn’t realistic to expect the university to have no oversight over them at all.
In truth, Russ Gavin has a difficult job. He is asked to oversee an organization that wants to have as much self-governance as possible while also having a history of being controversial and constantly pushing the envelope. Riding that line is always a challenge and if you aren’t careful, things can go in a rather dark direction that nobody should want.
When he came on board as band director, Gavin was taking over a band that had been recently suspended for violations of university policy including hazing, sexual harassment, and alcohol abuse. Gavin did an interview with Kate Chesley of Stanford News. In that interview, he articulated his vision for the band and how he plans to allow the band to remain committed to their core mission while also representing Stanford in a way that everyone can get behind.
Stanford News: Director Russell Gavin helps the Stanford Band play on
“They don’t need my help to do that,” Gavin told Chesley when asked how to help the band maintain their unique character. "They are smart enough to know that jokes that might have seemed funny in the past might not be appropriate now. The current students are hilarious in their own way, and the students who write the shows are doing a great job engaging our fans. During the field show planning, I often find myself laughing out loud.
“I have spent a lot of time talking to people to understand where the Stanford Band fits into the university and how we best serve. I have really appreciated that so many doors have been opened to me and so many people have emailed me their thoughts, whether they are fans of the Band or not.
“I’ve heard from people from every perspective, and I’ve been soaking it all up. I’ve received tremendous support from athletics and student affairs. They have been incredibly helpful. All of these experiences will lead to an articulated vision for the future and a wide-ranging discussion with the students about how we should best serve the Band members and the university.
“I’m certain the Band’s unique character will carry on. The group will stay a scatter band. Their numbers will increase and they will develop musically and as an organization that everyone can be proud of. They have a unique power to inject fun and energy and that will grow.”
The reality is the band is in a new era that it has never been in before. It’s not used to having the kind of oversight that it now has and naturally there is going to be some pushback from students and band members who long for an earlier time when there was more creative freedom in their hands. The ability to be their authentic selves, blow off some steam, and just have fun is what their core mission is all about. Hopefully Gavin, band leadership, and the band at large will be able to get past this current incident, learn from it, and make the band experience better for everyone involved.
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