Approximately a dozen supporters gathered Monday morning to deliver petitions to LSU President F. King Alexander and Gov. John Bel Edwards in support of Tiger Band director Roy King, who was recently placed on administrative leave.
Mary Bahlinger, 2014 Tiger Band drum major, led the group, which submitted copies of a change.org petition with nearly 1,500 signatures to Alexander’s and Edwards’ staffs.
Bahlinger said the group gathered Monday to show visible support for King, who has served in the band’s administration for 20 years. She said King has been a mentor to many of his students and does everything he can to support his Tiger Band members, going beyond what is necessary for the job.
In a previous interview with The Daily Reveille, King’s attorney Jill Craft said she believes the administrative action was taken because King refused to allow the LSU School of Music to access certain Tiger Band funds, though LSU Media Relations director Ernie Ballard refuted this claim in a statement, which reads “This is not as a result of any alleged dispute between Tiger Band and the School of Music.”
Bahlinger said she believes the money at the root of the rumored dispute between the School of Music and Tiger Band funded stipends for the Golden Girls and the Golden Girl and Color Guard captains, who receive additional funds for their leadership positions within the band.
Junior assistant Color Guard captain Lisa Aldridge said Tiger Band members had an inkling something was coming down the pipes beginning in the fall, when longtime administrative coordinator Linda Saucier left abruptly mid-semester. Saucier’s departure was followed by controversy surrounding the band’s annual fundraiser, Tigerama.
Aldridge said, to her knowledge, King challenged higher-ups by refusing to allow the reallocation of Tigerama funds to other departments. The event was briefly cancelled following King’s refusal, but then reinstated after an uproar from alumni and band supporters, she said.
Despite King’s alleged stand, the band has not seen a penny of the fundraiser money and the location of the funds is undetermined, she said.
Regardless of alleged disputes between King and administrators, no one believed it would come to this, Aldridge said.
“There are few men I respect more than Roy King,” Aldridge said. “I think what’s happening to him is putting a huge black eye on our program and he’s the least deserving of anybody of this negative publicity.”
If King is not reinstated, Bahlinger said it will be a blow to the entire Tiger Band community.
“It means that money and politics wins over doing a good job and loving your students and being a good teacher,” she said.
Timothy Toler, a Tiger Band alumnus and retired band director for Denham Springs Junior High school, said King being placed on unexplained leave is a dark spot in University history.
Toler said he is a lifelong supporter of the University and is a member of the Tiger Athletic Foundation, the Tiger Gridiron Club and the LSU Baseball Coaches Committee. He is also a 30-year football season ticket holder, as well as a baseball and women’s basketball season ticket holder.
If King is not reinstated, Toler said he will likely cancel his season tickets, withdraw his financial donations to the University and cancel his memberships with various University organizations.
“I’ll probably just wash my hands of LSU, period,” Toler said.
Toler said he has known King for 14 years and believes the band director is generous, hardworking and devoted to his job. He said many of the Tiger Band alumni respect King and are loyal to him.
King’s positive reputation extends beyond the University and its alumni community, Toler said. King and the Tiger Band have garnered national and international recognition in recent years, with the band playing at the 2014 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin, Ireland.
“Our presence is known around the international community and that just doesn’t come from someone showing up for work and doing their job,” Toler said. “That comes from dedication, loyalty and going beyond working eight hours a day.”
Though several rumors exist regarding King’s administrative leave, Toler said he has not heard any indication that King’s behavior or character is under suspicion. All rumors suggest the dispute between King and the LSU School of Music over funds allocated for band stipends is the cause, he said.
Bahlinger said another friendly gathering of King’s friends and supporters is in the works for the coming weekend. King doesn’t want anything too dramatic planned and hopes to handle the situation as civilly and peacefully as possible, Bahlinger said.