The Cadets Drum and Bugle Corps

On April 5, 2018, allegations were made in published reports that the longstanding corps director, George Hopkins, sexually harassed or abused multiple members of the corps and staff over a period of years.[7] Later that day, Hopkins stepped down as director of The Cadets and YEA! CEO while denying the allegations. Sean King was named as interim CEO for YEA![8] On April 11, 2018 the board of directors tendered its resignation and a new board and officers immediately took over operations of the organization.[9] Claiming to have received no letter of resignation, the new board terminated Hopkins for cause. (In his federal lawsuit seeking severance pay and other monies, Hopkins asserts that he resigned from the organization by letter on April 5, and that his departure was "mutually agreed"-upon.[10]) The organization also hired a Chicago labor and employment law firm, Franczek Radelet, to investigate the accusations against Hopkins as well as YEA!’s policies and procedures for providing a safe environment for youth members, employees, and volunteers. In addition, YEA! established a hotline for calls to report concerns or complaints.[11]

The YEA! organization was immediately put on a probationary status by DCI with the statement that, "The terms of the probation include multiple steps for YEA! to take in order for its drum corps to participate in the upcoming 2018 DCI Summer Tour."[12] As a part of the terms of probation, the corps' reassessed their planned travel to the West Coast to open the season, and instead decided to proceed with a schedule redrawn for East Coast shows.[13] The corps' compliance with the terms of probation was sufficient for DCI to allow the corps to compete in 2018, and the probation was lifted in May of 2019.

On November 13, Hopkins was indicted in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania for sexual assault, based on accusations of two women who are former employees of YEA. The charges are second-degree felonies. Hopkins surrendered to authorities, was arraigned, and was released on $50,000 bail with a preliminary hearing scheduled for December 4.[10]

In response to Hopkins suing YEA! for more than $500,000 in severance and back pay, the organization filed a counter suit against the former director for $1.5 million in losses which it alleges to have lost due to the sexual misconduct scandal. This amount of the lawsuit includes recovery for lost sponsorships and pledged donations to The Cadets and YEA!, a major loss of participants in the US Bands program, as well as legal fees incurred due to the scandal.[14]

• 2000, 2005, 2015

• 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2013

• 2005

• 2000, 2005, 2011

• 2005, 2011

Prior to 2000 and the adoption of the current scoring format, the Cadets won these captions:

• 1983, 1984, 1985, 1992, 1997, 1998

• 1983, 1984(tie, Santa Clara Vanguard), 1987, 1993, 1998

• 1983, 1984(3 way tie), 1990

• 1987, 1988, 1990, 1993

For many, many years, The Cadets had a distinctly recognizable maroon and cream uniform from which the corps rarely deviated until recent years. Since their founding in 1934 the uniform had gone relatively unchanged, except for the 1958 season and part of the '59 season, after they had parted company with the Holy Name parish, which refused to allow the corps to have the uniforms for that period.

For the 2005 program, "The Zone: Dreamscapes in Four Parts with a Door," the corps used the normal color scheme for the uniform, but with both the back and the front appearing to be a front side. On the true front, the uniform was the normal maroon jacket, cream white pants and trim, but the "fake" front had maroon pants and an overlay that gave the appearance of a cream-fronted jacket with maroon trim, while the sash remained gold on either side. The shako had a visor and badge on both front and back, and the sash was white in front and maroon in back, maintaining the double-front appearance. Also, to keep with this "twilight-zone-like" experience, much of the marching was also done in a manner that helped make either side seem to be the correct side.

In the 2006 show, "Volume 2: Through the Looking Glass," a similar trend as 2005 was followed, though this time, the "fake" front had a new overlay, giving the appearance of a baby blue front with different designs for each performer. The shako also was changed to appear maroon in the front and back, though the double visor was still used. Following this year, the uniform was changed back to its traditional design.

In 2011, the corps had the usual uniform design, but changed the colors in a different way. To support the show "Between Angels and Demons," which had the corps split in half with one half being "Angels," and the other "Demons," they had the two sides wear different colors. The "Demons" wore a full maroon uniform (shako, plume, jacket, pants, and shoes) while the "Angels" wore a full white uniform, both with the exception of the yellow sash adorned by both.

For the 2012 season, the full white uniform was extended to the entire corps for their "12.25" Christmas season show, and the sash was changed to maroon.

In 2014, the field corps wore the traditional uniform, while the pit wore white. Through the show, panels were removed from sashes worn by the field corps, changing the color worn from light blue to gold to yellow.

On July 30, 2015, The Cadets revealed new uniforms, which were black with silver lining. To create hype for the unveiling of the new uniforms, The Cadets had a blackout on their Facebook page.

In 2017, The Cadets utilized a new uniform for their program "The Faithful, The Fallen, The Forgiven" consisting of full length maroon cassocks with gold shoes before changing in to a more traditional "Cadets" style uniform with white pants before changing once again into a full white body suit for the show's closer.

In 2018, the corps featured white, close fitting uniforms with black mis-matched, horizontal stripes with a few maroon, sparkly stripes over top. Black collars, cuffs and shoulder points were made out of a black pvc material and studded with silver buttons. The back of the uniform, shoes and gloves were entirely black. The shako was black and white striped with a black panel in the front and a black, white and maroon plume during the beginning of the season and than changed to a straight black plume with silver mylar strands.

"O Holy Name" is sung by the corps members before every performance. The lyrics are set to the tune of "O Tannenbaum."

"Rocky Point Holiday" (or simply Rocky Point) was included in the Cadets warmup exercises after the success of their first winning show in 1983. Other pieces include "On a Hymnsong by Phillip Bliss" and the newest addition "Ballet Sacra," both from 1993's 1st placing show, with the piece "Mahler's Symphony No. 2" which is the ending segment of Gustav Mahler's Second Symphony.

Of the thirteen founding member corps of DCI, The Cadets are one of only four that have attended every World Championships, with the others being the Santa Clara Vanguard, The Cavaliers, and Madison Scouts. Of the four, only Santa Clara has advanced to Finals every year.

The only junior drum and bugle corps older than The Cadets is the Racine Scouts, which was founded in 1927. The Scouts, however, have not competed on the field since 2015, making The Cadets the oldest continuously active junior corps. The Govenaires, an all-age/senior corps founded in 1927, retain the title of oldest continuously active corps.

Where every other corps begins to march by "stepping off" on the left foot, beginning in 1985, The Cadets started stepping off on the right.

The Cadets' 2005 show "The Zone: Dreamscapes in Four Parts with a Door" tied the 2002 Cavaliers show "Frameworks" for the highest score ever achieved at DCI Finals, with a score of 99.15. This record stood for nine more years until it was broken by the undefeated 2014 Blue Devils, when their show "Felliniesque" earned a score of 99.650. Despite this, The Cadets' 2005 championship season remains the only one with a champion to win all captions and sub-captions. Many corps have won all of the overall captions, but only 2005 Cadets won all of the performance and ensemble subcaptions.

While in many ways The Cadets are a very traditional corps, they have also been one of the innovators of the activity. This was especially true during their early DCI championship seasons, when they pioneered the use of complex, asymmetrical drills under the direction of drill designer George Zingali. Later, The Cadets and their then-director, George Hopkins, led the move toward the use of electronics, amplification, and vocals in drum corps.