Author Of Nearly Naked Ohio State Band Calendar: It's Satire, Duh

One of the former members of the Ohio State band who gave us the scantily clad "Boys of T-Row" 2007 calendar has spoken out, saying the calendar was satirical and Ohio State has "willfully misconstrued" it to help the university's case.

The conduct of the Ohio State administration has been more juvenile than the PG-13 humor they have vilified. That a satirical calendar is willfully misconstrued as somehow being responsible for sexual harassment or assault reveals just how flimsy the university's position is. I share the context of the calendar (which was fully known but purposefully omitted from OSU's narrative) in the hope that our university can begin directing resources away from this farce and toward the numerous legitimate Title IX violations revealed by the recent federal investigation.

The calendar was voluntarily created outside of university time in 2007 by veteran male members of marching band. It was briefly shown in video format at a voluntary event to welcome new members. We printed a single copy and put it in Jon Water's mailbox for comedic effect. While I can't speak for Jon, my guess is that he simply saw a meaningless joke, threw it into a pile, and forgot it for the next seven years while he got back to the significant work of creating musical and marching excellence on the field. If this calendar is responsible for any harassment, it is the harassment Jon Waters now receives as the result of our joking, for which I am truly sorry. That said, none of us could ever have imagined that the university to which we gave so much would demonstrate such open contempt for its own community — especially given how silly this calendar is relative to real issues on campus.

The former band member, Jonathan Picking, goes on to explain why they did the calendar, including the succinct: "It was funny." You can read the full statement here.

The calendar came out because Ohio State entered it into evidence in a lawsuit brought by Waters over his firing. It's from 2007, when Waters was with the band but hadn't taken over as band director.