Shadow Marching Arts has received reports of, investigated, and confirmed inappropriate and grooming behavior of a former senior staff member, David Henzie-Skogen. He was dismissed from the organization and reported to DCI to prevent his continued participation in the drum corps activity at large.
Shadow Drum & Bugle Corps (formerly known as Oregon Marching Band and Shadow Armada) as well as the former guard and drumline programs were created with the intention of providing positive life-changing experiences for young people. We acknowledge that this space has been abused.
Shadow Marching Arts currently defines grooming as follows:
Grooming is defined as establishing an emotional connection and trust with a person, and sometimes with their friends and/or family, to lower their inhibitions for the purpose of sexual abuse. Grooming can look like communicating with the person outside of the scope or the nature of the professional relationship (student/staff or supervisor/direct report) including but not limited to: texting, direct messaging on social media, or being physically alone with the person and having discussions that are not related to instruction or collaboration on a shared project, and instead blur the lines between personal boundaries. When considering if behavior qualifies as grooming and when deciding the course of action to follow, the corps will consider the frequency and severity of the behavior. Shadow DBC staff and volunteers will be informed that it is not appropriate to communicate privately with members on a personal basis. Shadow DBC staff members and volunteers have the responsibility to watch closely for, intervene with, and report the signs of grooming at all times. Violations of this policy by any personnel, or failure of an adult to protect a member, can result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal from Shadow DBC without refund or pay.
If you or anyone you know has experienced grooming, we invite you to make a report to our board of directors here: https://www.shadowdbc.org/copy-of-general-inquiries. If illegal activity is reported, Shadow Marching Arts will act as mandated reporters and inform the proper authorities. If the behavior is not illegal in nature, but unethical and not compliant with Shadow’s code of conduct, we will follow the policy of dismissal and reporting to our governing body after investigation. We are striving to understand the scope and pervasiveness of this behavior within our organization in order to better protect current and future members, and to ensure that victim voices are heard.
This offer extends to any of the behaviors in section H of our personnel manual: https://docs.google.com/.../1z5F9oHwF7ktTl7h23Vps3m5.../edit. Current Shadow members and staff receive training on this manual in their first week of participation, thoroughly covering each topic with an emphasis on identifying these behaviors, reporting these behaviors, and preventing harm within our organization.
Support for victims of many types of harm defined in our personnel manual is freely available through many nationally recognized services with expert care and resources: https://hotline.rainn.org/online https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org https://www.stopitnow.org/ohc-content/crisis-hotlines https://1in6.org/helpline/ https://drughelpline.org https://childhelphotline.org https://www.nationalparenthelpline.org https://teencentral.com/help/ https://youth.gov/fed.../national-teen-dating-abuse-helpline
Sincerely,
Ken McGlauchlen President Shadow Drum and Bugle Corps shadowdbc.kenmcglauchlen@gmail.com