Atlanta, Georgia -- Clarinet player Bria Shante Hunter had to decide which option was more painful: turning in the FAMU bandmates who, she now says, had administered a serious beating, or walking around on a broken leg.
For a week the Atlanta freshman tried living with a fractured femur. But on Nov. 7 she reported the incident to FAMU band director Julian White, who sent her to the hospital and referred the case to the campus police.
Hunter told authorities that her injuries -- including blood clots as well as the cracked thigh bone -- were the result of being struck repeatedly for failing to live up to the credo of the Red Dawg Order, a sub-group made up solely of students from the Atlanta area, within the renowned and prestigious FAMU Marching 100. The existence of the order is one outward indication of the profound ties between Atlanta and the band many regard as the best in the world.
The consequences of Hunter's decision to come forward -- she has decided she can no longer remain at the school, and will relinquish the $85,000 scholarship she won as a member of the band -- illustrate the powerful and complex bonds that tie members to the band.
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