Marching band

 

ATLANTA -- Four Florida A&M University students have been expelled for their role in what is believed to be a hazing death of a marching band member, the latest blemish for a rich and cherished institution at historically black colleges.

Hazing is part of the price band members pay at HBCUs to be part of a vaunted campus tradition that eclipses the prestige and popularity of the football team. Band members can endure anything from punching to paddling to being forced to drink copious amounts of water, all for a chance to perform in front of thousands of people at football games, parades and other high-profile events.

On HBCU campuses, band members are often given perks and treated like celebrities.

"If you were in the band, it was like you were a superstar," said Fontreia James, a piccolo player for three years in the marching band at Jackson State University in Mississippi. "People don't come to the games to see the football team. People come to see the band."

OGDEN — This year, they beat the curse.

For the first time in five years the Ogden High School marching band beat what they call the “Curse of St. George” when members recently brought home top honors from the St. George Red Rocks Invitational State Finals, the equivalent of a state championship. The band now joins the ranks of the school’s other state champions this fall — boy’s cross country and girl’s soccer.

“We’ve been doing that all year,” band instructor Robert Gillette said of his band and the wins. They took first place in five out of six competitions this year and he credits some adversity to the team’s success. Awards are given in different areas at each competition and some areas won in every competition all year.

OGDEN -- Budding musicians got to spend a day learning what it takes to be in a high school marching band.

The Ogden High School band sponsored a one-day band camp June 24 for junior high students, to show them the basics of marching in a band and learning good playing techniques.