Hi, all! It’s Becca. Happy fall semester!
Fall to me means not only starting classes but also the beginning of Marching Band season. I had never done marching band in high school, but I wanted to get involved as early as possible and wanted to keep playing the flute so I joined the UCMB. My involvement has increased to more than just being a member of the organization. I am a proud member of the Honorary Service Sorority Tau Beta Sigma and I am the Band Council Secretary.
UCMB on Fire is our show for 2012
What is Band Council you may be asking yourself? According to our website ucmb.uconn.edu “The band council is the governing student body of the band. The council assists with everything from planning preseason to recruiting new members. The band council also raises funds for special projects within the marching band. All officer positions are elected at the end of each season.” I like to think of it as student council of the band. My high school graduating class had the same amount of members as the UCMB so it’s a very close comparison in my mind. Each officer has a very critical role. There are the common roles of president, vice president, treasurer and secretary. Other critical roles include communications coordinator, who send out many, many emails to the band regarding performances and rehearsals, as well as social coordinator, merchandise coordinator, alumni liaison and historian. The alumni liaison and historian are extremely critical positions because they help keep our traditions alive and band family close. Jake, the current historian, takes his job very seriously and has been working all summer to archive historical items and inform the band of where we came from. History is not only our gateway to the past but also to the future. Learning more about where we have come from helps us have pride in where we are.
Taking out oaths of office!
Also with the named positions there are various committees that meet during team break out time. The committees are recruiting, website, homecoming, media, public relations and history and they all play a critical part in helping the UCMB run smoothly. Our website is one of the best in the nation thanks to Jason and his team. We came in third place overall thanks to the work of the Homecoming committee. All of our performance and preseason videos on Youtube are of the highest quality thanks to our media team. The committees are open for anyone in the and to join and help contribute to the band.
Last but not least there are class representatives that have their own duties. Freshmen reps help with Homecoming. Sophomore reps put on our end of season banquet. Junior reps make preseason (summer band camp) run as smoothly as possible and the senior reps are in charge of fundraising.
U-C-O-N-N FIGHT!
Our meetings are held during the Fall Semester, on every Monday night at 9:00 PM in room 304A of the Student Union. All UCMB members are encouraged to attend. Initially there are officer reports, then team breakout, team reports, people ask to be reimbursed, good of the order and we adjourn (that’s the Cliff Notes version at least). Band council helps the band run even more smoothly and is so fun. Why not capitalize on another opportunity to see my band friends? I love band council and am honored to be the secretary. Taking the minutes is fun rather than a chore and I get to work with the best team around! For more information about band council and the student leadership check out http://ucmb.uconn.edu/about/band-council.html . For more general information about Marching Band check out ucmb.uconn.edu.
