GOOD AFTERNOON, BAND OF BLUE!
To be in an organization that is so well-rooted in traditional and family is an honor and a privilege to all involved.
College in itself is a difficult and complicated challenge to take on. That being said, no challenge is ever truly unbeatable with an efficient support system. Most campus traditions are the starting off point for students to become a part of that support system.
This is where the band shows their strength.
Joining the band allows students to get a unique perspective of the campus as both the observer and the performer.
And we love having that role.
It’s a sense of unity. We, people of many cultures, backgrounds, and ethnicities, come together with our love of music and for the familial comfort it brings.
Being a pivotal part of the traditions that openly interact with the community allows the band a certain level of pride as we strive to represent the school and its events with a fun-loving and hard-working demeanor.
We are there for fun. We are there to work. We are there for family.
To truly understand how an organization operates, one must look at the individual and learn his or her philosophy.
I interviewed sophomore Maggie DeBall with the intention of getting a band member’s opinion(that wasn’t my own) on our role in the campus traditions here at MTSU. It was during this interview that I realized we shared many of the same beliefs, and thus this article was born.
Some argue that the campus traditions are becoming irrelevant because of the changing of times and the new directions in MTSU’s development.
Maggie disagrees.
Campus traditions connect us to previous generations of students, she believes. For this reason, they encourage school spirit and promote a general love-thy-neighbor attitude within the student body. No mountain can be built without a solid foundation, and our traditions are just that. A foundation. We need them to build our future, and we wouldn’t be the same school without them.
She will admit to one fault in our traditions.
She agrees this can be difficult to uphold some of our traditions because each year brings us farther from those who created them and farther from the actual practices that were present in them to begin with. However, she offers a counter to this by observing the band. We have marches we have always done (Pregame), songs we’ve always played(Tennessee Whiskey), and dances we’ve always done (I’d love to provide a general example of this, but it’s different with each section. Makes it more fun that way). Ensuring the traditions are upheld to a strict degree makes performing them much more satisfying.
The Band of Blue plays a vital role in many of the traditions here at MTSU. In fact, most lists found online regarding the traditions here always has a minimum of one that the band plays at. Though one would usually find us at a sports-related event. We are a marching band after all. We attend many of the games here with either our full band or a strong pep band, to show our support for our teams and our MTSU family.
We also take pride in our relationship to the community around MTSU. Events, such as Raider Walk, give us the chance to interact with the people surrounding MTSU. Whether they be alumni, future students, or just some neighborly residents of Murfreesboro, We want them to have fun when they come to our campus.
We want the community involved, having fun and tailgating before our football games.
We want them dancing to our pep songs.
We want them to hear of us and get excited to bring their families to come visit.
We are a family school. You become a member of our family the second you step onto our campus, and we want you to know that.
This video was uploaded to Youtube via efjeffrey. It is a recording of the 2018 Contest of Champions BoB performance.
The Contest of Champions is an example of the band’s commitment to upholding traditions. This marching competition has been running for a whopping 56 years, and the BoB director Craig Cornish takes a lot of pride in ensuring that the band is prepared to preserve the many traditions of the event. This event is one of the only 100% Band of Blue events here at MTSU, and it’s our chance to reach out to prospective students (or alumni band directors) and connect with them through music.
In short, the Band of Blue helps bring the familial love that connects the members of the MTSU community in all its many parts, and we have a good time doing it.
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Listed Below are many of the events the MTSU BoB performs at:
- Convocation
- Raider Walk
- Football Games
- Basketball Games (Large Pep Band)
- Volley Ball Games (Large Pep Band)
- Bash the Rec
- CoC(Contest of Champions)
- Homecoming (Parade, Ceremony, and Halftime)
- Veteran’s Salute
- W.O.W (Pep Band for Incoming Freshman)
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For more information regarding MTSU Traditions, please visit:
“MTSU Traditions You Should Know.” by Victoria Leuang
“TRUE BLUE TRADITIONS.” by MTSU Online Visitor’s Guide
“MTSU Homecoming” by Mealand Ragland-Hudgins
“Traditions” by MTSU Official Page
