Columbia University has reinstated its marching band. Let the scramble resume. Photographer: Daniel … [+]
Just in: Good news on the higher education front. Only about three weeks after silencing its notoriously chaotic and irreverent marching band, Columbia University has reversed field and will allow the band to resume playing at university athletic events.
Yes, the horns will toot again and the “miscies” will be thumped anew, beginning with this weekend’s game against Penn, which happens to be Columbia’s Homecoming.
According to an email from the Columbia University Band Alumni Association, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger made the following statement:
“The Columbia University Marching Band has been a University tradition for over 100 years. It is my strong hope that this tradition continues for the next 100 years and beyond. I am, therefore, very pleased to say that over the past two weeks Dean Jim Valentini, Athletic Director Peter Pilling, and representatives of the band have met, resolved the issues that needed attending to, and found a way forward that preserves the band and that tradition. The Columbia University Marching Band will again be playing at this Homecoming Weekend.”
Band Manager, Cameron Danesh-Pajou, praised the formation of the new partnership and added, “Through upholding the standards integral for a positive game day atmosphere, the Band will once again be able to continue its tradition of supporting Columbia Athletics, the student body, and the Columbia community at large.”
As part of the resolution, the band will form a new partnership with Columbia’s athletic department that will allow the band to continue its scramble and satirical format, while receiving renewed support from the University. As part of the deal, the details of which are still being worked out, the band may add a musical director, obtain new uniforms for official athletic events (the infamous rugbys will still be in play for other band performances), and no longer be required to apply for recognition as a student group, since it will now fall under Athletics’ umbrella. It will also have the more than $28,000 it claims to have raised with its GoFundMe campaign, launched by the band’s alumni association shortly after the University pulled its support last month.
What’s not yet clear is the degree to which band conduct and the scripts of its performances at athletic events will be subject to more scrutiny prior to its actual shows. The approval process is still apparently being finalized. So while one might suspect that the band will be toned down a tad, it will no longer be silenced. Who knows – it might even be welcomed back to West Point.
Play on Columbia. Roar, Lion, Roar.
