Virginia Pep Band

The Virginia Pep Band is a student-run band at the University of Virginia (UVa), officially known as The Award-Winning Virginia Fighting Cavalier Indoor/Outdoor Precision(?) Marching Pep Band, & Chowder Society Review, Unlimited!!!. In the tradition of scatter or scramble bands, like those at Stanford, Rice and the Ivy League, the Pep Band prefers irrevent humor and indiviuality to marching in uniform formations. Founded in 1974, this group of students served as UVa's band supporting athletics in an official capacity until 2003. The Virginia Pep Band has chosen to perform at sporting events typically ignored by marching or pep bands, such as lacrosse, soccer, swimming, field hockey, and ice hockey. The Pep Band has also performed at Charlottesville community events including the Charlottesville 10-miler, the Alzheimer's Walk, and the United Way Day of Caring.

History

The earliest appearance of the organization which became the Virginia Pep Band was in 1909, when the East Lawn Chowder Society appeared in the University of Virginia yearbook, Corks and Curls. The East Lawn Chowder Society was a secret society that engaged in general tomfoolery, often involving their rivals, the West Lawn Chowder Society. Later, the East Lawn Society formed a band, which evolved over time into the current Pep Band. The style and appearance of the organization has changed over time; at some point it even performed a traditional marching band style as the University of Virginia Marching Band (this is why both "award-winning" and "marching" appear in the band's name). In 1973, the band adopted the Ivy League scramble band style, beginning the modern era of the band. The one thing common to all of the current Pep Band's predecessors was student governance - complete control by its members rather than University faculty.

The "Revolution of '93"

In 1993, UVa's athletic director Jim Copeland announced that the Pep Band would be run by a professional band director. In response, the students of the band began a strike, arguing they were standing up for student self-governance. Called the "Revolution of '93" by Pep Band members, the clash with the athletic department garnered national attention. Columns and letters in news sources such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, and USA Today addressed the conflict.

During the strike, the athletic department replaced the Pep Band with a faculty-run group called the "UVa Sports Band," a 24-member band which included several hired musicians. The Sports Band proved unpopular with fans, and was introduced at Scott Stadium only once (where it was resoundingly booed). During this game, Pep Band members protested on "The Hill". The athletic department reinstated the Pep Band to athletic events in time for the last home game of the season against Virginia Tech.

Current status

Today, the Virginia Pep Band operates in a much reduced role, after again being eliminated from all official sporting events by the University's athletic department in 2003. At these events, the Pep Band has been replaced by the Cavalier Marching Band, which debuted in 2004. The new band is run by a professional band director, as opposed to the Pep Band, whose director is chosen from among its members. The University of Virginia student council passed a resolution in February of 2004 asking for the Pep Band's return to athletic events, especially those where the marching band does not perform, but the athletic department has not, as of yet, acquiesced.

The athletic department has cited several reasons for the change, including that football fans were disinterested in the Pep Band's performance, and that performances were occasionally regarded as offensive and/or inappropriate. For example, a halftime show performed at the Continental Tire Bowl in 2002 prompted the Governor of West Virginia to demand an apology from the band and the school for its portrayal of West Virginia residents. The Pep Band was banned from all future Tire Bowls, and the University brought a high school marching to the bowl in 2003.

Advocates for the Pep Band argue that there is strong student support for the organization, and that the University and athletic department are trying to exert more control over something that has historically been student-run. They see the elimination of a student run band as a departure from what they consider to be the Jeffersonian ideals of self-government and freedom of speech that the University of Virginia inherited from its founder. They claim that all performances had been thoroughly approved by the UVa athletic department and, in the case of the Tire Bowl, by the bowl officials themselves. Columnists have also downplayed the offensiveness of the band's performances; one Washington Post columnist wrote that the Pep Band was "banned not for the crime of political incorrectness, but for the potential to possibly, just maybe, somehow, somewhere, some day commit it."

Despite the ban, the Pep Band remains active, performing its traditional roles in Charlottesville events and supporting University of Virginia student athletes outside the jurisdiction of the athletic department, such as at club sporting events (e.g. ice hockey, rugby). The band also performs what they call a "pre-game scramble" for tailgating fans outside football games at Scott Stadium.

External links

• Virginia Pep Band home page (http://www.vapepband.org)
• Friends of the Virginia Pep Band home page (http://www.orangevest.org)
• Cavalier Daily Article on UVa Student Council's Resolution (http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=18498&pid=1107)
• Cavalier Daily Article on Continental Tire Bowl (http://www.cavalierdaily.com/CVArticle.asp?ID=14431&pid=947)