It appears the director of OSU’s School of Music strongly opposed the firing of marching band director Jon Waters. Lawyers for Waters produced a letter from Rick Blatti in a court filing. It's an effort to show the OSU Board of Trustees were directly involved in the firing.
In a handwritten letter to Jon Waters parents, Blatti wrote the firing of the band director shook his belief in the university and "tied his stomach in knots."
Waters attorneys point to the letter as evidence the board of trustees played a role in the dismissal.
The music school director wrote two months after Waters’ firing that his “disappointment in our Board of Trustees [is] profound.”
The letter states “the shocking decisions made in July were done without my knowledge, or even my input.”
Blatti said his attempts to reach Ohio State’s so-called “the Powers to Be,” the Board of Trustees, regarding Waters’ firing were “ignored.” And he noted he threatened to resign over how the scandal was handled.
OSU fired Waters for ignoring what it called a "sexualized culture" within the band. Waters has four months to prove his gender discrimination claim in a federal civil-rights lawsuit.
Waters' attorneys have sought a two-month extension to gather board-related information.