Iowa State leaders talk about UI Marching Band controversy (audio)

AMES — Iowa State University president Wendy Wintersteen and Athletic Director Jamie Pollard Tuesday addressed the ongoing controversy after members of the University of Iowa band said they were assaulted after the game in Ames September 14th.

Wintersteen says Iowa State does not have a crowd control problem. “We have great fans who come to Jack Trice,” Wintersteen says, “I would say that 98 percent of our fans are behaving. They’re doing what we expect them to do — and it’s a few of our fans who have decided to behave inappropriately. And so we are going to work with president Harreld and president Nook to think how we can change that.”

Wintersteen says she will work with University of Iowa president Bruce Harreld to make sure the series continues. “At the same time we can’t and we haven’t ignored the actions that were reported after the game. We are saddened and concerned by the reports that some members of the Iowa band were mistreated or harmed during their visit to our campus,” Wintersteen says.

Cyclone Athletic Director Pollard says they received a list of five incidents last week from Iowa, including one that a band member who was injured. He says a member of the band who was carrying a ladder suffered broken ribs after being shoved and falling on the ladder as the band member exited the field.

Pollard says the problem started when the Iowa band took an exit out of the stadium other than the one recommended. “The Iowa Marching Band marched in formation into the back of that crowd and essentially forced their way through that crowd — there was no place for anybody to move to,” according to Pollard.

ISU Police Chief Michael Newton says they have not heard from any of the Iowa Band members who were victims of alleged abuse. “We in law enforce find it very difficult to actually launch an investigation when there are no complainants who come forward. So that does challenge us in this process at this time,” Newton says. ” We can’t investigate from media reports, we can’t investigate from social media reports.”

The news conference in Ames comes after U-I president Harreld told the student newspaper he does not want the series to continue until they can work out issues with the security and safety of everyone. Harreld did say he believes they can work it out.

Audio: ISU News Conference. 40 minutes