The usually boisterous Prairie View A&M Marching Storm was silent during the halftime show at the game against Texas College Saturday. This was due to a temporary hiatus the administration and leaders within the band decided to take pending an investigation into rumors concerning the conduct of a few members of the band.

A source close to the band said that a band member allegedly reported that other members of the organization assaulted him, and administration decided to investigate. For this reason, the source said, the band was not allowed to play in last week's game and will be unable to practice or perform until all students in the organization attend a meeting regarding student conduct hosted by the Office of Student Affairs.

Richard White/The Panther

Marching Storm

"We're being very cautious about the situation," said Dr. Victor Hebert, head of the department of music and drama. "If there is a certainty [of misconduct] that involves a student currently attending the university, I would push to have them separated from the program."

Hebert did not confirm any rumors of the alleged assault, but wished to assure students that the band will be able to perform as scheduled as soon as the review and educational meetings are finished. He also assured students that whatever incident may have occurred was very small, and that the majority of the students in the organization were uninvolved.

"The band has a heavy schedule approaching, so to assure all the students were comfortable, a few internal issues needed to be worked out," said James Durant, a former band member who still works very closely with the Marching Storm.

Durant suggested that the review could only be beneficial to the organization, which was feeling the strain of a large group of incoming freshmen.

Jerrell Allen writes for The Panther, the Prairie View A&M student newspaper, which originally published a version of this article.