Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2007 - (Page 21)

Lehigh,” says Salerni, who marched with the band on his 50th birthday. “The band is one of the few in the Patriot League that actually marches, and it is much bigger than many other school bands. I think this is testimony to the quality of students at Lehigh and their terrific ‘psyche.’” Some marching bands simply blare their music into the stands, but “our music has dynamics and emotions,” says Brendt, a German and chemistry major. At practice, Brendt drills her fellow musicians until their marching is harmonized with the music. Although a stickler during practice, her sense of humor is evident in her brown dink, which is decorated with a plethora of buttons, a band-aid wrapper, a felt tag reading “Maggie,” and a tiara on top. After two years as a drum major in high school, Brendt swore never to swing the baton again. But she reconsidered last year. “I saw the band needed a strong leader with experience,” she says, “and I thought it was my responsibility to try out.” Of course, for most of the Marching 97’s history, it would have been outrageous to even think of a woman trying out for the band in any role, much less as drum major. That all changed on Sept. 30, 1973. “NOTHING LIKE A DAME” In 1969, Lehigh began the process to consider whether the university should begin admitting women as undergraduates. Seeing the writing on the wall, Thaler and the band executive committee welcomed women to campus in the fall of 1969 by augmenting the all-male cheerleading squad with women. After determining that “Cedar Crest had the best girls,” the band members posted signs on Cedar Crest’s campus inviting women to audition. When the Lehigh men arrived on the appointed day, it seemed as if the whole campus had SO WHO’S COUNTING? It’s been years since the Marching 97 had 97 marchers. This year, the band took the ﬁeld with about 65 musicians, and that’s the largest it has been in several years. Band aﬁcionados say there are several reasons for the lower numbers. The band now competes for musicians with Lehigh's four jazz ensembles, a wind ensemble, the Philharmonic Orchestra (which just celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2004), and other instrumental ensembles. There was a time when attracting the full 97 students year in and year out was no problem. But that had more than a little bit to do with compulsory ROTC drills. Here is the account related by W. Ross Yates, former professor and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, in his authoritative history, Lehigh University: A History of Education in Engineering, Business and the Human Condition: In 1925 the ROTC adopted the Band and made it an alternative to marching drill. Almost immediately the Band was as popular as spring semester break. The major problem now became retaining members after the two years of compulsory ROTC were ended. The administration solved this by offering junior and senior members twenty dollars a year as an inducement to continue playing. By 1934 the membership was temporarily stabilized at ninety-six. In the 1960s, marching band satisﬁed ROTC drill requirements and physical education requirements for ﬁrst-year students, says clarinet player and student conductor David L. Hughes ’69. Nadine Haines ’82, who attended this year’s centennial celebration, says it’s impressive that the band can still attract more than 60 students given all of the other demands on their time. In the upcoming years, drum major Maggie Brendt ’08 expects the band to at least maintain its size. “If the freshmen continue to be as involved as they are, the band will grow in the next few years under their leadership,” she says. The band performs a new halftime show every home football game. fall 2007 21

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Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2007

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