Now 200 members strong and traveling to games as far away as Connecticut, North Dakota and Texas, the band is one of the proudest, high-steppingest, biggest, boldest bands around. It has served as an unequaled source of student camaraderie, alumni loyalty and university goodwill. Across the country you'll find few, if any, student bands that are comparable, says Faculty Director Jonathan Elkus. A few of the things that make it special: Membership in the band is open to all students, regardless of musical ability; the band is student-run; and the band attends all football games and all of the men's and women's basketball games, both home and away. Only a tiny percentage of the band members are music majors, says Elkus. More important than musical talent are dedication, enthusiasm, a willingness to participate. Members must agree to attend practices (more than 10 hours a week during football season) and 40 percent of the performances, but they don't need to audition; they don't even need to know how to play an instrument. "We teach them," says Elkus. "And some get pretty good." Band members are volunteers; they get no payment, no credit, not even a notation on their transcript. And for some of those volunteers--namely the band officers--the position is a hefty commitment. The band is managed by an officer council composed of the band's 10 student officers, including an executive council of general manager, student director and drum major. Elkus' role as faculty director is a half-time position (the other half of his time is served with the music department as a lecturer and director of the concert band). He is allowed final say in the choice of the general manager and votes with the council in cases of a tie, but says, "Otherwise, I am allowed to encourage, I am allowed to warn, and I am able to insist that it is my right to be informed. And that is it." Advice and assistance is also provided by the director of the Student Programs and Activities Center; the band has been a program of that campus unit since ASUCD decided in 1980 that it could no longer fund the group. Like any student organization, the band is required to be financially responsible with its budget and to operate within campus, state and federal guidelines and regulations--and within the band's own constitution--but it's the student officers who hold responsibility for overall decision-making and day-to-day operations. The student general manager handles the mind-boggling job of arranging transportation--by van, by bus, by plane--and housing--in high school gyms, university wrestling rooms, church social halls--for band members as they travel thousands of miles each year. "There have been mini-catastrophes," says Rachel Meyer, who just concluded her stint as general manager at the end of 1999 football season. "We had a disa "So my grades aren't very good, and I don't know what I'm going to do after graduation. But I know when I make out a resume the position of general manager is going to be at the top. I know I'll be asked in an interview, 'What does general manager mean? Does that mean you followed the faculty director around?' And I'm going to say, 'No, actually that meant I traveled 35,000 miles while in college and planned and got 200 people safely from place to place.' And pulled a B- average while doing it." OUT OF THIS WORLD SPIRITOne of the benefits of the band being a student-run organization is that it teaches students to be leaders and managers, says Jim Berry '87, president of the Cal Aggie Marching Band Alumni Association, "so when they face the real world, they understand how to deal with pressure and how to make decisions." Students benefit from the moment they join. "They come to the fall retreat and have upward of 200 new friends instantly, 10 days before classes begin," says Elkus. "They can get academic advice, social advice, they meet people who will be their friends for life. I remember somebody once saying, 'Oh, you married outside of your section!'" Members also get musical training, the chance to travel and the opportunity to support their teams and university--providing a real service to the campus. "The band made a huge difference to us in many ways," says Jim Sochor, UC Davis' head football coach for nearly two decades. "You felt like you had something to play for. They bring a real sense of community and a sense of family to the university. They are truly the spirit of the campus." They share that spirit with the entire Davis/Sacramento region. Sacramento Magazine, in its November 1999 "best of Sacramento" issue, gave the band its editor's choice award as best marching band. In 1998, the City of Davis presented the band with a resolution of appreciation for "outstanding service and spirit." "The Cal Aggie Band-uh is just another great example of how the university contributes to this community," says Davis City Manager John Meyer '80. "The band-uh brings a level of excitement and energy that is extraordinary. I can't begin to tell you the number of smiles it has brought to kids' faces in our community." And that makes for a valuable public relations tool for the campus. "When the band travels through the rest of the country, they are constantly called a credit to their university," said Berry. "If people see that the students are proud to be a part of this school, then they know there is something special going on here." In 1997, the band's reach even extended into space. Band alumnus and astronaut Stephen Robinson '78 took along a tape of the band's music to wake the Discovery crew. Robinson is just one of hundreds of loyal band alumni--many who return to campus to perform each Homecoming, basketball's Break the Record Night and Picnic Day. BANDS WILL BE BANDSThe band, of course, has not always made the campus proud. But problems have been few--surprisingly few given the youthful nature of the organization and a marching band's mandate to be spirited. Tensions have arisen from time to time concerning control of the organization, as oversight has shifted and has been sorted out among the student government, the administration, the music department and band members. The inclusion of women has also been an issue in previous decades. During the band's earliest days, it was by necessity all male: There just weren't that many women on The Farm. Over the first half of the century, especially after a home economics program brought more female students to campus, a few women joined the band, but even as late as the 1940s the only women were the drum majorettes--first Mary Jeanne Gilhooley and then Evelyn (Rowe) Rominger--who traveled with chaperones and weren't allowed to date band members. In 1961, the band, including its few female members, voted to become all male--not an uncommon practice at the time. (The Stanford and UC Berkeley bands were all-male, as were many others.) It saved on travel costs and allowed the band--the men would later vociferously argue--to be less inhibited and more spirited. But by the 1970s, the times, they were a-changing, and freshman piccolo player Anne Glicken (now Anne Fairbrother) wanted to join the band. She wrote an editorial in the California Aggie and took the issue to ASUCD. "A number of people said that we should set up a separate band, an all-girls' band, instead of integrating the band," she recalls. "One person who said that was a fellow in the band who was black. I just looked at him and said, 'Separate but equal, huh?'" With the UC counsel advising that the Higher Education Act of 1972 prohibited sex discrimination, the ASUCD Executive Council decided to withhold the band's funds until it agreed to admit women. In fall 1973, Glicken and several other women joined the band. Glicken participated only her sophomore year, though she remained on campus through 1980, earning a veterinary degree. "I didn't have the feeling that I belonged," she says. "Obviously there were feelings there, and there were other things available to do. Having settled into campus life by that time, I just decided that it wasn't worth it." Only twice in its 70-year history have the band's problems been serious enough to warrant probation (periods of investigation and increased oversight). The first time occurred in 1977 after some risqué shows and other incidents, including an over-the-top performance at Portland State with a script about sex and penises. During this time--when TV shows like "Saturday Night Live" were in their heyday--the band shows were designed to appeal to students, points out band alumni president Berry. "The band was presenting late night material to a prime-time, family-hour crowd." Probation lasted two years until a new constitution was adopted that included a code of conduct and a new organizational structure. Trouble arose again in 1992, sparked by a heated exchange between the student director and a band member. The director's use of sexually related epithets prompted a charge of sexual harassment that gained momentum as several former band members added complaints about sexually offensive songs, retreat practices and locker decorations. During a 10-month probationary period, the band's constitution was again revised to include The band was grappling with issues that were being confronted by the entire country during the '90s, as businesses struggled to define sexual harassment and acceptable behavior in the workplace. "The changes made were pretty much consistent with changes that every organization has had to make to deal with that issue: changes in language, changes in how you speak to other people, changes in what's acceptable behavior and what's not," says Berry. "It was uncomfortable at the time, and a lot of us didn't like it. But in retrospect, it was nothing unusual." The legacy of these probationary periods, however, is a constitution that now serves the band well, providing clear guidelines to help the organization deal with problems as they inevitably arise. "Now when these things come up--and they do--everybody knows what they are supposed to do," says Faculty Director Elkus. Indeed, in 1995, when charges of hazing arose--complaints by a former member that freshmen were mistreated at the band's fall retreat--the established policies made for smooth handling of the situation, says Ted Adams, director of the Student Programs and Activities Center. "Those procedures have been critical to helping us." THE BOTTOM LINEAt 70 years of age, the band now stands on the threshold of change, says former General Manager Rachel Meyer. For decades the band has cherished its tradition of open membership and attendance at all football and basketball games--and members are adamant about maintaining those traditions for the next 70 years and beyond. But funding difficulties are making that a challenge. Over the past decade, membership has grown to the point the band cannot provide a uniform for everyone. Travel has expanded tremendously as football has had to look further afield--to Connecticut, Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon and Washington--for compatible opponents. And while expenses have increased, the budget has declined. Funded by reg fees allocated by the Student Programs and Activities Center, the band's budget has never been much higher than $25,000, but has hovered closer to $19,000 since the economic downturn of the early '90s when across-the-campus cuts were made. The budget used to pay for travel and even a few fast-food meals for members. Now only a small portion of travel costs are covered, and band members who want to participate must help pay their own way. When travel outside the state was a rarity, generous alumni, the Cal Aggie Alumni Association and the athletic department often kicked in support, but those emergency resources can't be relied upon for regular funding. "That leaves us in a totally untenable position: Members who have more resources can go on trips and those who lack resources can't. And that's terrible," says Elkus. To help with the problem, band alumni are once again stepping forward, helping spearhead a fund-raising drive for a $100,000 endowment. The endowment income could provide funding for some travel or for much-needed repairs to instruments or the band's 18-year-old uniforms. The campaign is being led by Jim Berry and fellow band alumnus Michael Levy '88. In the long term, however, the nature of the band may have to change, says Meyer. In the future, because there aren't enough uniforms for the full roster, the band may be able to perform in its entirety only in its informal uniform of blue jeans and white shirt. The day may come, she says, when some band members participate only with the informally clad group. "Practices that we've held dear for 40 years because we could do them with 50 people can't all be done with 200," Meyer says. "But I don't think the Aggie band tradition, heart, gut, bold, blue and bitchin'--everything we stand for--is ever going to change." * For more information about the Cal Aggie Marching Band, visit the band's Web site at http://camb.ucdavis.edu For more information about the endowment campaign, call the Cal Aggie Alumni Association at (800) 242-4723 (in California only) or (530) 752-9960. |
This fall marks the 70th year that the California Aggie Marching Band has indeed been the spirit of the UC Davis campus. The band is the heart of every football game, every basketball game, every Picnic Day and many other events on campus, in the community and across the country.
strous trip to Utah because a 14-passenger van lost its transmission on the way there. But we got everyone back safe. . . . We had plane tickets that were reserved wrong and had us leaving a day early. . . . We had 62 people in Manhattan, but the airlines had only 32 seats reserved to fly us home. We all got home safe but one--because he missed his flight and unfortunately decided not to call. So I ended up filing a missing person's report with the NYPD. He called a day later to say 'I'm home.'
formal grievance and disciplinary procedures and training of band officers.