… To the charges filed against a former prominent community member? There’s a lot of discussion in unofficial channels but it’s been more than four days now since the documents and related news stories, and I’ve seen nothing from FIRST. Maybe I’ve missed it though.
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For what it’s worth, has HQ ever acknowledged bad conduct by an individual? (Not should or not, has.)
Only example I can think of was the Einstein 2012 report, and even then they didn’t name names.
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I’d have to check if they even named the team the individual was on in that case. Team outed themselves with an apology, I recall that for sure.
Yeah. HQ doesn’t often acknowledge studf like this publicly.
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You don’t think this is the first time an adult abused a child via participation in FIRST, do you?
Have you ever seen FIRST mention this before?
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I’m honestly on the fence on the “public response” thing.
If they make a case of it, it can trigger some, attract unwanted (external to our community) attention and place focus on the actions of this individual. There may also be legal implications and limits on what they can and cannot say without incurring possible liability. (IANAL)
On the other hand it would increase awareness, possibly encourage anyone else to come forward to report any inappropriate contacts (not just this person), and help set a tone for personal safety.
At the same time, I think all of these positive things can be done without drawing direct attention to this specific incident and charges at hand.
This is one case where I really think HQ needs to speak with actions, not press releases. Tighten YPP rules, make TIMS remotely usable (seriously, the thing has almost given me PTSD) by both parents and mentors, be clear that TIMS mentors/people are checked against the HQ ban list, highlight personal (not just equipment) safety throughout the program (yes and again at kickoff), and many other good suggestions made by others in various threads/forums/discords.
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I personally dont remember any that involved this public of a figure within the community (IFI/Vex excluded, seeing as how that ultimately went nowhere). Maybe one before my time? But the rest are blips in local news that get passed around privately, including a former WFFA winner. If any was to get a response from FIRST, this would be the one I would expect it from.
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when you operate on a spectrum between “it’s not my problem” to “if i speak it might become my problem” so you just chill out in a converted warehouse for a bit
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As far as I know, none have also been allowed to write blog posts and appear as a host on FIRST-produced livestreams. This isn’t just a prolific mentor, this is someone who’s worked directly with FIRST HQ in a significant capacity.
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To put this into some personal context:
Last spring a student brought a gun to my school and shot two administrators with it before killing himself. While we were still in lockdown and had not been released by the police our school district superintendent held a press conference in front of the school (within sight of students locked in rooms) and gave a prepared statement and answered questions from the press.
Not that this was a standard I want anyone to follow, it was in poor taste at best. But it stands to reason that a large organization has the ability to provide a public response quickly to a crisis, especially just a “we are aware, we have been in communication with the authorities, we support all of our students, here is a hotline for anyone in need of help”. Which is the starting point of everything I expect from an organization I work so hard to support year after year.
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I’m very sorry that this happened to you and your students. I can’t even imagine what that must have been like.
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The last time one of these cases made a lot of noise on Chief, we got a blog post reminding people that YPP exists and talking about recent improvements to that program. That wasn’t very long ago, so I think another super generic blog post that doesn’t mention a specific case would be somewhere between tone deaf and suspicious.
FIRST, understandably, probably doesn’t want to get involved publicly. If they do, they could be dragged into litigation, being blamed as a responsible party, etc.
I think more people (and organizations) should speak their truths, and practice what they preach, but I’ve lost that fight time and time again. People tell me I’m brutally honest a little too frequently. I wish everyone else would just say what they mean, FIRST included, but I’m not expecting it.
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For better or for worse, I wouldn’t expect a specific statement from FIRST unless a highly publicized conviction occurs.
An international non-profit with a revenue stream in the $100M range has a lot of lawyers and PR folks managing every word that leaves Manchester. They aren’t going to do anything that tarnishes their image unless absolutely necessary to avoid a worse outcome.
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fixed that for you
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Really fun thread to pull on regarding the legal services Manchester receives. I didn’t do that homework myself so i will leave it up to either those who have or just tell you to go look at their financials and try to figure out what they got going on there.
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Multiple threads about FIRST HQ’s lack of response and keeping secret lists and we can’t even bring ourselves to name the individuals who have been charged with crimes for instance.
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I don’t like giving people like him the honor, that’s a personal thing. To help everyone who isn’t already clear about it from reading elsewhere, it’s Nick Lawrence, who used to work for AndyMark and was a very prominent public face of FIRST.
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To further clarify, I agree that for the sake of public safety people need to know the names of perpetrators, if that what you are trying to address.
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And this is where it gets sticky. I’ve got a pretty common name, at least in the western world. It would not be surprising at all if there was a Mike Taylor somewhere that would be on a DNP list.
Furthermore, it would be shocking to me if there wasn’t another nice, respectable, clean-living fellow named Nick Lawrence somewhere, and he was helping an FLL, FTC, or FRC team in some capacity, and this guy has no relation to or even knowledge of the one wanted by the Howard County sheriff’s office.
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I myself am in team very-common-name club where there are people with the same first and last name as me who have done nasty things (example, example).
I see the value in a list as in addition to helping teams not taking past perpetrators on as mentors, it helps those of us who run offseason events to not assign them as volunteers. Really hope we can be super detailed with it though and include much more identifying information beyond first and last names.
Gutted at Nick’s behavior. Haven’t felt right all week. I hope all those impacted in Kokomo are doing ok.
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The other Joel Noble in Denver is the same age as me, is about equally community involved, and we used to live two blocks from each other. We each regularly get emails/calls of support or anger that are intended for the other. I always know when he’s written an article for the Denver Post, and I got a lot of people wanting to influence me as “I” became part of the new Denver Mayor’s transition team.
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