During the course of my workday, I encounter a lot of news from many sources. Some of the news is good; much of it is bad. A little more than a week has past since much of the HBCU world witnessed the outcome of Morris Brown’s fight for life. In losing it’s fight for accreditation, It’s almost a certainty that one of the classiest band programs of our craft will not be taking the field for battle this fall. The same program that represented all of us in the movie “Drumline” with such fervor and pride won’t be packing them in at Herndon Stadium this season. It’s still something that hasn’t really sunk in yet with me, as well as with a lot of bandsmen in HBCU circles. Sadly, this isn’t the first time that your friendly neighborhood columnist has borne witness to the shutdown of a program.
The University of the District of Columbia’s short but proud history somewhat mirrors the path that we’ve seen with Morris Brown. The demise of that program also coincided with financial difficulties of the parent institution. As with the Morris Brown program, students affiliated with the Marching Firebirds had the opportunity to transfer to another school and blend in with another program. Many of us who were a part of the heated rivalry with Howard’s “Showtime” band program really couldn’t come to grips with marching for a program we’ve clawed tooth and nail with. Some of us traveled out of state to other programs; others gave up the craft all together, never considering putting on the uniform of another program. Many of the Morris Brown faithful face this same dilemma, in addition to the burden of finding another school to complete their studies.
As I sat down and thought about how to approach this month’s installment of VFTS, I couldn’t help feeling a tremendous sense of loss for our craft. I also thought to myself, “This could happen to any of our schools.”…With that thought in mind, I committed to addressing this topic…How can we protect the traditions that many of us have come to love in the face of growing indifference and/ or ineffectiveness of our own University administrations? How can students have more of a say so in the administrative actions of our schools?
Simply put, we as students and alumni must hold these university officials to a higher standard…We must hold the folks in charge accountable for budgetary concerns for our tradition-rich programs, as well as the overall academic and economic health of our school programs. From our standpoint, we have an obligation as bandsmen to be ambassadors for our respective schools. We have an even bigger obligation to become a marketable ‘tool’ to that end…
How do we do that? We continue to do the things that we do best; We put forth the same passion and intensity that we usually do on Saturday afternoons. We aspire to take our trade to another level. This past season, we saw brilliant glimpses of that promise. We attained a level of mainstream awareness that hasn’t been seen in the history of HBCU band programs. Even in light if this tragedy, the Morris Brown band program was a giant part of that revival. If the Morris Brown school administration would’ve seen the marketing and financial potential of it’s talented students a bit earlier, perhaps there would’ve been more revenue to combat the financial quagmire that has enveloped this institution. The events of the past few weeks should be a wake-up call to directors, department heads, and Trustee Boards at all HBCU schools. You have a precious commodity; you have a recruiting tool, a public relations tool, and a marketing tool in your respective music departments. The ‘tool’ is called the HBCU band program. Utilize and cultivate this resource wisely. You never know how beneficial the program can be until it’s gone…
To the students of Morris Brown, It saddens me to see this hardship come upon such a proud and tradition-rich program. We may not see you on the field this season, but you’ll be with all bandsmen in spirit. I look forward to seeing the Marching Wolverines back on the field in the future, as do all fans and bandsmen. I have a good feeling that it will be a lot sooner than later…
I’m Crazylegs, and I’ve said my piece…