Statement on Former Member Stephen Mathew

It has recently come to our attention that former MAASIN core member Stephen Thomas Mathew is allegedly a domestic abuser. We have been provided with a police report from his arrest for assault against his former partner and received permission from her to share this with you in an effort to keep community members who are in contact with him safe. The police report can be viewed below. Please note this police report is publicly available however we have redacted the address and survivor’s name because we do not wish to dox anyone.

We take accountability for our core members extremely seriously. Our operating procedure dictates if a MAASIN core member commits harm against another they could be be asked to formally apologize, removed from particular committees, removed from MAASIN with discussion of return if amends are made to the harmed person(s), immediately blacklisted, or suspended while our administration committee investigates further to determine the best course of action. Based on the report we received we feel Stephen’s actions warrant blacklisting from MAASIN. We feel he is an unsafe person to have in our community and this post will be forwarded to any marching arts organizations he works with in the future. 

As those of you who have been following us for a while may know, Stephen designed our logo. We refuse to have the work of an abuser be associated with our organization thus we will be designing a new logo for MAASIN. The current logo will be retired effective immediately and replaced with a purple circle, the color of domestic violence awareness, until we design one that reflects our organization’s values. 

We encourage all community members to contact our Whistleblower Support Committee at report@maasin.net if they have been harmed by anyone associated with MAASIN so they and our Administration Committee can take appropriate action to help keep MAASIN and the community safe from perpetrators of abuse. You can also get in touch with us through our DMs on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If you are unsure if someone is affiliated with MAASIN feel free to ask and let us know why. We will gladly work with you. 

Thank you for your time and support. Please feel free to direct any questions to info@maasin.net or our social media DMs.

Sincerely,
MAASIN Core Membership