FAMU Marching 100 to return to the Field

[southsuburbs]

Under the new rules, all band members must be full-time FAMU students. Before the band’s suspension, students from FAMU, Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College could be Marching 100 members as long as they were enrolled in a single band course. The semester Champion died, however, 101 people on the roster were not registered in the class.

Band members also will be required to maintain a 2.5 grade-point average, make adequate progress toward the timely completion of their degrees and pick a major by their third year. Membership in the band is now capped at four years. Additionally, practice hours will be limited in terms of time and location and will be supervised at all times by music department staff.

Robinson said the new standards will mean a “new normal” for the band. Gone are the days of its ranks swelling to up to 400 members.

“One of the things that is very unlikely is that we will see an ensemble of the size that we have seen before,” Robinson said. “You don’t need to be the biggest; you just have to be the best.”

Robinson said a smaller band also will be more manageable in terms of logistics and finances. Former FAMU interim President Castell Bryant, however, was widely criticized in 2006 when she limited band enrollment to only FAMU students and its size shrunk.

Why are students required to have a 2.5gpa to participate in a CLASS? You get a grade for band...this makes it seem like it's an extra curricular activity, it's not.

Before y'all try to go the whole education route...I'm all about good grades but you don't have to maintain a gpa to participate in other classes so why is this any different?

 

[JAG89]

Why are students required to have a 2.5gpa to participate in a CLASS? You get a grade for band...this makes it seem like it's an extra curricular activity, it's not.

Before y'all try to go the whole education route...I'm all about good grades but you don't have to maintain a gpa to participate in other classes so why is this any different?

I do agree that non-FAMU students shouldn't be allowed to march in the band, but shall students be required to take a band class to be in the marching band? Unless a student is a music major, band should be an extra curriculum activity just like the school's sports. Therefore, IMO there should be a GPA requirement that is similar to what's required by the student athletes.

 

[Blankman2k5]

It's BS...as someone who graduated from FAMU, joined multiple organizations, and NEVER got hazed...it's pure uncut BS

The term, "cultrue of hazing" is stupid...the media made it seem like hazing was something that ran rampant across our campus, and it really didn't...and now you're seeing our administration react to EVERYTHING that is questionable...at the current moment, ANYTHING will get you in trouble on our campus

Because there is hazing for damn near everything. If you have cats getting hazed to ride a bus.... read that again ride a DAMN BUS, how can you say the culture has no impact? That is delusional at best and dumb as fucc at worst.

 

[FAM4lyfe]

Because there is hazing for damn near everything. If you have cats getting hazed to ride a bus.... read that again ride a DAMN BUS, how can you say the culture has no impact? That is delusional at best and dumb as fucc at worst.

"Culture of Hazing" means it's something embraced by the entire damn school...which it's not...a reason why FAMU folk get so defensive when outsiders start spewing crap

 

[lilrj1919]

Most colleges and universities require band as a class, its probably because band members are on scholarships and receive financial aid and you must make sure you keep your grades in tact or you will lose the scholarship and the aid.

 

[southsuburbs]

Most colleges and universities require band as a class, its probably because band members are on scholarships and receive financial aid and you must make sure you keep your grades in tact or you will lose the scholarship and the aid.

Not sure about FAMU but not all band students receive scholarship for participating in the band. Snd that was going to be my next point (even though 2.5 is low for a scholarship) but if the university is asking all of this from the band students (time for practices, time for performances, extra performances like parades, etc.) and now maintaining a gpa...then ALL band students should be some sort of stipend.

 

[Tigerpride]

. getting hazed to ride a bus.....

:lol:

 

[Normal1875]

getting hazed to ride a bus is childish...

when you really think about it that shit is ignorant az hell lol

 

[jag4life]

Why are students required to have a 2.5gpa to participate in a CLASS? You get a grade for band...this makes it seem like it's an extra curricular activity, it's not.

Before y'all try to go the whole education route...I'm all about good grades but you don't have to maintain a gpa to participate in other classes so why is this any different?

That class was only for non-FAMU students who wanted to be in the band. Basically it was a band participation fee since otherwise they would be taking advantage of a school-funded entity for free.

 

[Devil's Gun Trigger Man]

That has always been the hilarious elephant in the room dealing with FAMU. How the hell you just now make a rule that folks marching in the band need to be full-time students????

 

[southsuburbs]

That class was only for non-FAMU students who wanted to be in the band. Basically it was a band participation fee since otherwise they would be taking advantage of a school-funded entity for free.

huh?

I'm talking about FAMU students required to maintain a 2.5gpa to participate in the band going forward. It's still a class that they are getting a grade for participation.

 

[Blankman2k5]

"Culture of Hazing" means it's something embraced by the entire damn school...which it's not...a reason why FAMU folk get so defensive when outsiders start spewing crap

In reference to the student body the culture is embraced. There were idiots defending the "process" of bus c. there were (and still are) idiots on both twitter and facebook as if they got away with something. If you believe that ANYTHING has changed you are delusional.

 

[southsuburbs]

In reference to the student body the culture is embraced. There were idiots defending the "process" of bus c. there were (and still are) idiots on both twitter and facebook as if they got away with something. If you believe that ANYTHING has changed you are delusional.

:lol: There's probably a SMALL percentage of the student body at FAMU that "embraced this culture of hazing".

Y"all need to stop exaggerating and lumping everyone together.

Just because 5-10 people say they agree with it doesn't mean its' the entire (or large percentage) of the student body.

:smh:

 

[Blankman2k5]

:lol: There's probably a SMALL percentage of the student body at FAMU that "embraced this culture of hazing".

Y"all need to stop exaggerating and lumping everyone together.

Just because 5-10 people say they agree with it doesn't mean its' the entire (or large percentage) of the student body.

:smh:

If you say so.

 

[FAMU CLIFF]

Not sure about FAMU but not all band students receive scholarship for participating in the band. Snd that was going to be my next point (even though 2.5 is low for a scholarship) but if the university is asking all of this from the band students (time for practices, time for performances, extra performances like parades, etc.) and now maintaining a gpa...then ALL band students should be some sort of stipend.

Marching band participants were always required to be enrolled in Marching band class. The new GPA requirement is just a prerequisite so to speak. A way to run off any riff raff who are not serious students.

 

[FAMU CLIFF]

What's interesting is FAMU suspended the Delta's for 3 years for hazing/no death and the band only one year with death. Seems backwards.

Marching band is an academic component of the university wholly controlled by FAMU. DST is not. Of there was an explosion in the chem lab and the program was shut down to review safety protocols, how long would we go without offering chemistry classes or degrees?

 

[FAMU CLIFF]

That has always been the hilarious elephant in the room dealing with FAMU. How the hell you just now make a rule that folks marching in the band need to be full-time students????

They were always required to be full time students but just like any course, to cut costs the state made it so all course catalogues had to be streamlined in the SUS and that a student enrolled in a course of study at a school could take a class at any school in the SUS. So if you are a student at FSU, you can take just about any course at FAMU and vice versa. The state of FL has probably over 250k students enrolled in state colleges. That rule wasn't made for the band, but it applied.

A secondary issue was folks registering for the class and dropping the class before the end of add/drop. That is where someone dropped the ball in no verifying enrollment at add/drop. So those persons were at one time enrolled in the class.

 

[HORNETSWARM]

Why are students required to have a 2.5gpa to participate in a CLASS? You get a grade for band...this makes it seem like it's an extra curricular activity, it's not.

Before y'all try to go the whole education route...I'm all about good grades but you don't have to maintain a gpa to participate in other classes so why is this any different?

It seems like they are trying to weed out those students who can't reach the 2.5, therefore they believe in their minds that a better student will be placed on the field, thus the hazing will eventually go down. There are a lot of stupid kids with 2.5-3.5 that have slapped and will continue to slap the hell out of you. It also appears that the 2.5gpa will keep the marching band numbers down to a degree.

 

[Cojack]

It seems like they are trying to weed out those students who can't reach the 2.5, therefore they believe in their minds that a better student will be placed on the field, thus the hazing will eventually go down. There are a lot of stupid kids with 2.5-3.5 that have slapped and will continue to slap the hell out of you. It also appears that the 2.5gpa will keep the marching band numbers down to a degree.

I agree with you on the issue of the fact that their are some fools out there even with 2.5 or above g.p.a averages, but the newly appointed director has already stated that Famu's band of being 300 or 400 plus are long gone. He stated that the band will be much smaller because he feels that it doesn't take such an excessive number of musicians to put on a quality show. Should be interesting to see what their numbers look like for the first game. All eyes are on the Marching 100.....

 

[lilrj1919]

It's crazy how they just implemented the 2.5 rule at FAMU for band when many other university bands has done that for years. You have to keep a certain gpa anyway to keep your financial aid so i don't know what was going on at FAMU. smh

 

[Lewis]

They were always required to be full time students but just like any course, to cut costs the state made it so all course catalogues had to be streamlined in the SUS and that a student enrolled in a course of study at a school could take a class at any school in the SUS. So if you are a student at FSU, you can take just about any course at FAMU and vice versa. The state of FL has probably over 250k students enrolled in state colleges. That rule wasn't made for the band, but it applied.

A secondary issue was folks registering for the class and dropping the class before the end of add/drop. That is where someone dropped the ball in no verifying enrollment at add/drop. So those persons were at one time enrolled in the class.

That was not done just to streamline things. You could do that before then. For example, a student at Southern can cross-register and take classes at LSU and LSU students can cross register and take classes at Southern. That was not just a function of SUS system. That has been true for years and years.

What gets me (and why I blame the school (FAMU) so much ) is after what had already happened, no damn way would I no have had a staff member or security person on each and every bus and if a knucklehead even got out his seat looking funny his ass would have been immediately moved to my bus with a seat close to me to enjoy the rest of his last bus ride home.

They had about 10 or 15 drum majors anyway. 1 less ain't make a difference.

 

[jag4life]

:lol: There's probably a SMALL percentage of the student body at FAMU that "embraced this culture of hazing".

Y"all need to stop exaggerating and lumping everyone together.

Just because 5-10 people say they agree with it doesn't mean its' the entire (or large percentage) of the student body.

:smh:

A "small percentage" of students died also. Is that acceptable since it is such a "small percentage"?

 

[southsuburbs]

A "small percentage" of students died also. Is that acceptable since it is such a "small percentage"?

No.

But it also isn't acceptable to lump all the students in one category at FAMU just to fit your argument.

 

[jag4life]

No.

But it also isn't acceptable to lump all the students in one category at FAMU just to fit your argument.

I agree. We can only lump all band members who ever knew about or participated in pledging any sub-org within FAMU's band.

 

[Fiyah]

Most colleges and universities require band as a class, its probably because band members are on scholarships and receive financial aid and you must make sure you keep your grades in tact or you will lose the scholarship and the aid.

That class was only for non-FAMU students who wanted to be in the band. Basically it was a band participation fee since otherwise they would be taking advantage of a school-funded entity for free.

I know when I was at PV, we had to register for band. If we were in any other ensembles, we had to register for them also.

FAMU Revives Marching 100 as Smaller Band

The band room on Florida A&M University's campus is alive again.

Eager freshmen in suits and ties lined up to audition for a spot in the acclaimed but embattled Marching 100 band Saturday. Then they practiced with the upperclassmen late into the evening, learning the sharp movements and musicianship that earned the band worldwide fame.

No more than 256 students will participate in the Marching 100 this year, compared with the more than 400 that were on the roll before the 19-month suspension.

New rules also are in place. Members must be full-time students and maintain a 2.0 GPA. No student will be allowed in the band for more than four football seasons.

There is new nomenclature, as well. Student "section leaders" are now called "princi*pals."

Instead of "drum majors," the band will have three "field commanders."

Band director Sylvester Young, on the job since June, said campus administrators suggested the new title because now only adult band staff will lead rehearsals and teach students.

Story

Principals & Field Commanders? :noidea: