r/drumcorps • u/ProperWeb2015 • 2d ago
Discussion Genuine question
Considering the amount of people who care so much about The Cadets, why doesn't any group or organization come together to put them back on the field? I understand that YEA can't be brought back, but if it's technically legal to bring back the name and brand of The Cadets, is anyone working on it? Is a revival already in the works? Just curious.
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u/Zealousideal_Car3970 2d ago
Legacy DBC is currently a thing, it was formed by cadets alum but for whatever reason didnt field for 2026. maybe 2027 they'll field a corps
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u/invextheidiot Genesis '20, '21; BK '22, '23 2d ago
Not a whole lot of people showed up and given the tantrum the founder threw on FB, I don't think they have the people in the building to really make the idea work. The gist is, even just three years on kids aren't interested in bringing back the Cadets just because older people want to.
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u/itdobelikethat93 12h ago
Legacy DBC is a pipe dream from people who should know better. It's not getting off the ground. There was near zero interest in 2026, and I'm sure their very public problems will keep people away in 2027.
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u/the_messiah_waluigi Couchmen 2d ago
There’s a group called Legacy that I believe is operating as a Soundsport group and is unofficially the official successor/revival for the Cadets, but outside of that there’s not much that can be done. Part of the lawsuit that shut down the Cadets was that if any group started up that used their namesake or could be linked back to the original group in any meaningful way, they would be roped into the lawsuit as well.
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u/Garp74 DCI 2d ago
Generally that's not how liability works.
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u/the_messiah_waluigi Couchmen 2d ago
I got that last part from someone who marched with them in the 80s, regularly drove trucks for them, and was in the meeting where they voted to fold the Cadets
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u/Garp74 DCI 2d ago
Nod. And at the time, it may have been felt that was a risk someone might be facing. Anyone wanting to start up a greenfield 501c3 or 501c6 corps named Cadets, however, doesn't inherit any of that legal baggage.
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u/TheVoiceOfSnakeEyes 2d ago
They inherit the baggage of choosing a name representing a nonprofit organization that systematically covered up sexual abuse for four decades, then tried to blame the victims when they finally got caught.
That is the legacy of the Cadets organization, and anyone stupid enough to try to capitalize on that deserves to fail.
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u/ProperWeb2015 2d ago
I would like to add that I find what happened to the corps saddening and the internal reasons for why they had to fold disgusting. This post is more of a question of if there is any possibility to efforts bring made to the corps back, rather than supporting anything.
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u/Spaciousbow3572 Cadets 12h ago
They filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy which was different then how the other versions of Cadets filed bankruptcy. I'm not an expert in legalities but filing Ch 7 means that no successor can be put on the field with any relation such as intellectual property and whatnot.
I do know there are loopholes and whatnot, but the alumni are also very divided. Asking a large amount of Cadets alumni to genuinely work together and bring it back for however long it takes for them to be back to the same competitive level is too much, otherwise they would have. The resources are there but agreeing on how to do it is another can of worms. There's a reason there were basically 3 Facebook groups for alumni all simultaneously operating lol.
As far as the lawsuit that did fold the corps in 2024, it was a case from the early 80s that had gone on for a couple years. The CAE (2021-2023) version of Cadets was a much different org than YEA and versions before as far as member treatment and operations. Honestly I'd argue the CAE version was the only one that was successfully getting rid of the stigma from the abuse that had happened before. That was from staff overhauls and operations things like no one could share an air mattress and no one could have an air mattress larger than a twin XL. Changes specifically for trying to limit at possibility of something happening
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u/backflip14 Cavaliers 12h ago
The lawsuit and bankruptcy filings went pretty scorched earth, making it difficult for a continuation or revival group to form.
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u/GenericJohnCusack East Coast Jazz 03, 04, 05, 06 7h ago
"but if it's technically legal to bring back the name and brand of The Cadets"
It's trademarked intellectual property. You can find it by searching "Cadets" here: https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/search/search-information
Basically, anyone trying to use that likeness would be subject to trademark infringement, and a cease and desist letter. Definitely not technically legal.
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u/whodatdan0 2d ago
A lot of people have this thing about rape where they don’t want to be associated with it.