T HE UNIVERSITY has been "scrambling" since 1969. In the spirit of often-flaunted student self-governance, major athletic events have been accompanied by the student-run Virginia Pep Band. The pep band is a traditionally unruly, creative and often controversial band of vested musicians from the sidelines of our first two home football games. Though benched this season by the athletic department's attempt to curb Scott Stadium's halftime exodus, new security measures have changed the circumstances. The Athletic Department should return the pep band to their former halftime scramble.
Controversy has surrounded the pep band for over a decade. Its unique humor and lighthearted jests have often run the band afoul of University officials, minority groups, several state governments, students and fans alike. This led to backlash from the athletics department. The band was forced to clean up its act or face permanent expulsion from University athletic events. The band even spent close to a season banned from Scott Stadium in 1993 after it voted to cut ties with the athletics department. According to director Heather Pozun, the band's current arrangement allows for everything but a halftime show.
The halftime show instead has been reserved for venues that promise to curtail the exit of what has been estimated by the athletics department to be 50 percent of game attendees. Precision rifle drills, curious performances and high school marching bands have replaced the familiar antics of the pep band. Though the athletics department might have believed that marching central Virginia high school amoebas might beat out the appeal of free food and bourbon at adjacent tailgates, the new security measures have rendered the issue moot in light of the new captive audience.
Past sensitivity issues aside, the pep band represents an important part of University student culture. For those who are too young to remember a real half-time performance, the anti-establishment "scramble" and band's aversion to even the idea of "marching" is coupled with puns, sarcasm, knock-knock jokes and creative formations. With such memorable hits as playing "Old McDonald" at Virginia Tech games to making light of incest, the pep band brings a lighthearted spirit and wit appropriate to a school that not only seeks football teams with winning seasons, but also ranks highly among public institutions academically.
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Preservation of this relatively unique University tradition, common to Rice, Stanford and many schools in the Ivy League, should be reinforced against demands for a more traditional marching band. Besides undercutting the "award-winning" tradition of the pep band - they won a parade trophy in the '50s or '60s - marching bands are incredibly expensive in terms of resources and personnel. The University's McIntire Department of Music boasts 13 fulltime staff members. The James Madison University Marching Royal Dukes employ 10 staff members for the band alone, not to mention the cost of the fuzzy hats, practice field space (a precious commodity on Grounds as any club or intramural team member knows), and additional instruments.
In addition to being expensive, marching bands are just boring. Chalk it up to personal preference, but the only benefit of a marching band might be high school bullies reliving the good ol' days making fun of the marching band. Though funny in their own odd way, the revolving rhombuses that accompany largely unrecognizable peppy tunes just do not compare to the creative flair of our scrambling pep band.
Since no one can leave the stadium anyway, there's no point to try to entice ticket-holders with gimmicky shows or flashy give-aways. Bring back the pride of the sidelines. Let the students rally behind the humor and individuality of our anything-but-marching band. Student opinion behind the band has waned recently only because of the stringent rules imposed by the University. The athletics department should work with the band to redevelop the organization into something that will not embarrass the University, that students will be proud of, and that fans will enjoy. The band is an under-utilized asset to this institution. The band should be promoted from their current second-string status and reinstated to the spotlight of football game halftime performances.
(Preston Lloyd's column appears Tuesdays in the Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at plloyd@cavalierdaily.com.)
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