TALLAHASSEE Fla. – Florida A&M University officials say “appropriate employment actions” have been taken against two music professors allegedly involved in hazing band members.
The Orlando Sentinel, quoted Elizabeth Davenport, president of FAMU’s chapter of United Faculty of Florida as saying Diron Holloway, the band’s director of saxophones, and Anthony Simons, an assistant professor of music, had been fired.
The two Florida A&M University professors are accused of being present during a student hazing involving members of the school’s famed marching band have been dismissed, said Davenport.
However, Simons, one of the two music professors who were investigated, said Tuesday that he resigned Friday after he received a letter from the university saying it intended to terminate him. The other professor, Holloway, also resigned to pursue other interests.
A Tallahassee police report in March accused both faculty members of being present during hazing at Holloway’s home two years ago.
Meanwhile, authorities also are investigating the death of Robert Champion due to hazing last year in Orlando. Nearly a dozen people will face charges ranging from misdemeanors to felonies. No arrests had been made by Tuesday afternoon, after authorities said they would be made in multiple jurisdictions.
Detectives say Champion suffered blunt trauma blows and that he died from shock caused by severe bleeding after he was hazed by other band members on a bus parked outside an Orlando hotel.
Since Champion’s death, FAMU and other schools have been under intense scrutiny about how they handle complaints of hazing.