Our sources say King was locked out of his e-mail yesterday afternoon. Word also has it there is a members-only LSU band meeting set for 5:00 today.

Which is the kind of thing one might expect in advance of a “we’re hiring someone to replace Dr. King” announcement.

In the meantime, a form letter was sent out to all the LSU alumni, boosters and fans who signed a petition supporting Roy King as the LSU band director. It read as follows…

Dear xxxxxxx,

Thank you for taking the time to express your concern about LSU’s Tiger Band. I sincerely appreciate hearing from alumni who are so passionate about the well-being of our great university.

Tiger Band is a treasure to our University, and we have an obligation to protect it and honor its traditions. The situation you referenced is a personnel matter, and a review is underway.

However, I would like to dispel the persistent rumors about budget changes and alterations in scholarship awards. That just is not true.

We would have preferred to handle this case privately, but as significant accusations toward the university were made in the press, I felt it important to respond to the concerned friends who wrote to me. Thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Sincerely,
F. King Alexander
LSU President

It’s interesting that LSU has yet to present a reason for why King is being let go as the director of the Golden Band From Tigerland. LSU’s position is that his ouster has nothing to do with attempts by the School of Music to lay its hands on the Tiger Band budget, which flows from the LSU athletic department, which is what King has maintained through his attorney and sources on the campus confirm is what’s actually going on. But LSU has yet to offer a different story.

If the university thinks it can find a better band director, OK. If King did something wrong that made him deserving of a firing, fine. An out-of-the-blue change like this seems suspicious, though, and the lack of a defense for it is not going to convince anyone King is being sent packing for any reason beyond the reported money grab of the band’s budget.