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NEWS- Down, not out: Band fights
to "stay alive"
Published
November 10, 2005 in issue 0445
of the Hook
BY MICHAEL
BEHR BEHR@READTHEHOOK.COM
Exiled from
University athletic events two
years ago, the Virginia Pep Band
continues its struggle for
hearts, minds, and ears. What
it's learning, however, is that
UVA would rather fund the
official replacements-- even
resorting to paying stipends to
students-- than hear the
irreverent (free) Pep Band at
athletic events.
Since the
225-member Cavalier Marching Band
does not have time to play at all
varsity events, Pep Band director
Caitlin Vogus thought her group
had found a "niche" with varsity
sports. Although Pep Band
participation numbers are down
from 100 in its heyday, with
35-40 current members and only 15
new recruits, Vogus petitioned to
play at varsity sports--
lacrosse, soccer, tennis,
everything except football or
basketball.
But UVA
athletic director Craig
Littlepage rejected the
proposal.
"With one band
program we can ensure a unified
look, a unified sound, and a
unified performance that is
preferred by many of our fans and
the Athletic Department," says
Littlepage.
In an e-mail,
the Athletic Department offered
marching band members $25/per
game to play at varsity lacrosse
games. Stipends for 25 musicians
at five lacrosse games could ring
up a tab of $3,125.
Cavalier
Marching Band Drum Major David
Knight verifies that UVA pays
stipends to marching band
members, but says the payments
are designed to cover food and
other expenses of holiday-time
performances, and vary in amount
from show to show. The Pep Band
did not request any stipends in
its offer to play at varsity
sports events.
"It's
interesting that students were
being paid to play at lacrosse
games, when the Pep Band was
willing to do it for free," says
former Pep Band Director and UVA
alum David Black.
Black and
other Pep alumni organized an
alumni association, Friends of
the Virginia Pep Band, to provide
financial support and advocate on
the band's behalf with the
University. With 1,000 members on
their contact list, the group has
raised over $25,000 in two years
for performance-related expenses,
instrument repair, and
travel.
"There is
substantial support among the
alumni to have a Pep Band
presence," says Black. "There's
no reason for UVA not to maintain
both traditions, the Pep and
Marching bands. We're not making
an 'either-or'
proposition."
Black notes
that Virginia Tech maintains two
bands-- the 330-member Marching
Virginians and The
Highty-Tighties (a regimental
band)-- both of which play at
varsity football
games.
It was a skit
in the Pep Band's performance at
the 2003 Continental Tire Bowl
against West Virginia that paved
the way for the Pep Band's
exodus. A stereotyped West
Virginia schoolgirl in pigtails
and overalls so badly irked West
Virginia Governor Bob Wise that
he demanded an apology from UVA
President John
Casteen.
Former UVA
football star and
multi-millionaire energy company
owner Carl Smith and his wife,
Hunter, having already given $23
million toward Scott Stadium's
overhaul, donated $1.5 million
for the creation of a marching
band.
Shortly
thereafter, the 30-year old
"scramble" band was locked out of
its equipment room, denied
University funding, and banned
from varsity athletic events.
Since the infamous takeover, the
marching band has grown and
continues to play at varsity
football, men's and women's
basketball, and lacrosse
games.
"When you go
to athletic events now, you hear
one sound of consistent quality,"
said Director of Bands William
Pease. "You will hear our same
similar tunes with similar
expertise and quality with a
similar look everywhere we
go."
Pease added he
was not hired "to get rid of the
Pep Band" but simply to "train a
band that performs at athletic
events."
Yet many
students and alumni claim the
University's treatment of the Pep
Band rejects Jeffersonian ideals
of student self-governance, both
in the marching band's
faculty-led orientation, and
alumni donations dictating
University policy.
"The
administration should be
promoting and providing
opportunities for UVA students to
be involved, to lead, to learn,
and to grow from problems," said
Black. "This student group
[Virginia Pep Band]
provided a musical service to
members of the
community."
However,
Marching Band member Knight notes
that 60 student leadership and
on-field conducting opportunities
are available with the new group,
and all the movements on field
are student-designed.
To the chagrin
of Pep Band members, the marching
band also recruits students from
Piedmont Virginia Community
College (13 students in all are
in the current
line-up).
The marching
band "has been a unifying
component of the game experience
with which we are pleased," says
Littlepage. "As the band
continues to grow, it will have
sufficient members to meet the
needs of all of our sports in the
numbers and quality that we
aspire to have to represent our
program."
Pease praised
the band's success and community
support during the football
season. The marching band office
received thousands of supportive
e-mails and phone calls from
alumni, students, and community
members. With 85 first-year
recruits, and 140 returnees,
Pease wants to increase the band
to 280-300 members, and has high
hopes for national
recognition.
Meanwhile, the
Pep Band, says director Vogus,
will "stay alive" and expand its
involvement with club sports. She
says the Pep Band, besides
playing amid football tailgates
outside of Scott Stadium, played
at the men's and women's rugby
games, the October 2 Alzheimer's
Walk in Charlottesville, as well
as the September 10 Washington
Nationals game.
"We are still
about having a good time, that's
what we are all about, being
students in our own group, and
hopefully we'll eventually return
to the field."
Brittney Maslowski leads the band
in a warmup before the
show.
 Only
tailgaters get to hear the Pep
Band at football
games
PHOTOS BY
BILLY HUNT
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