Forms of the Trinity Marching Band

Years prior to President Calgaard’s arrival, the marching band was thriving, but began to steadily deteriorate. After entering the picture, Calgaard evaluated its role on campus and at the football games, found it no longer able to properly serve the needs of the improving Trinity University. The marching band was an organization on campus that was trying to survive in hopes of preserving tradition. However, with the unlikely recoverable state it was in, it simply did not match with Calgaard’s grand visions for the school, causing it to disband. Prior to his arrival though, the marching band steadily evolved in order to try and maintain its status on campus, serving the students as a form of entertainment at football games.

The marching band could last be seen as fully present and successful in the 1950s when Trinity’s football team still played at Alamo Stadium. This could be considered one of the earlier yet stronger presences of the marching band. In addition to playing at football games during this time, the band was known to also participate in the downtown parade as well as various homecoming activities. According to Trinitonian articles, the marching band waned in the 1970s to a fraction of its previous size, and consisted of both Trinity students and community members (Unknown, 1989). This combined band served as an example of the desire to maintain this aspect of the Trinity football game culture. It is likely that the members saw it as a responsibility to uphold and maintain the legacy and state of the marching band as best they could in hopes of thriving in the South Texas sport world, where marching bands and football teams are considered a dynamic duo. The community members that joined Trinity students saw the importance of having a marching band at the football games, and out of support for the school, gave all that they could.  When the joint community-student band began to diminish, the final attempt at having a marching band at Trinity’s games was a forty member, all male ROTC marching band. However, its presence on campus was short lived (Unknown, 1968). Dr. Worman spoke about the band’s status following these days, stating that any subsequent versions came and quickly left. The only remains of a band at a football game from the last marching band to now is the Trinity pep band, which has cyclically come and gone over the years (Worman, 2019). By acknowledging these various forms of a marching band prior to and during President Calgaard’s tenure, it is evident that it was an organization that students fought to keep around, and it evolved as it saw fit, hoping to adapt to the needs of its audience. Unfortunately for Trinity though, the band and future football game attendees lost this part of their game day experience. In the end, the cons of keeping the marching band out-weighed the pros and it was not longer seen as necessary for the future of the school or its athletic or music departments.