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Small University Hires Fired Ohio State Band Director

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A small university in Ohio has hired Ohio State University’s former marching band director who was fired after an investigation into what the university said was a “sexualized culture” within the famed band.

Officials said Monday that Heidelberg University hired 39-year-old Jonathan Waters as its band director and a music education professor. Waters will start at the private university in Tiffin on July 1.

Ohio State terminated Waters in July 2014 after an internal investigation alleged that he ignored a “sexualized culture” that included sexual harassment, sexually explicit nicknames and hazing within the band. Waters has disputed those findings.

Waters says the job gives him the opportunity to make music again.

Heidelberg says the university vetted each candidate during the search process and has “done its due diligence.”