Marching Scarlet Knights
| Marching Scarlet Knights | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| School | Rutgers University |
| Location | Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Conference | Big Ten |
| Founded | 1915 |
| Director | Todd Nichols |
| Members | 215 |
| Fight song | "The Bells Must Ring” and “Colonel Rutgers" |
| Uniform | |
 |
|
| Website | Website |
The Marching Scarlet Knights (also known as The Pride of New Jersey) is the marching band of Rutgers University. The band was founded in 1915 as a small military band, and since then has grown into a 255-member athletic band for the university. The Marching Scarlet Knights performs at all home Rutgers Scarlet Knights football games. The band also travels to select regular season and post season football games.
The Marching Scarlet Knights band began in 1915 as an 11-member military band, playing for the Rutgers College Cadet Corps as part of the R.O.T.C. program. The band played at a football game for the first time in 1921, and began marching on the field in 1928 By 1924, the band had separated from the R.O.T.C. program and began playing at home basketball games. However, instructors and funding for the marching band still originated in the military.
The band struggled to retain members throughout World War II. As a part of the military, band members and directors were often called into active duty. Around 1948, the band shifted from traditional military uniforms and style to a more casual “Ivy League” style, in which members wore straw hats, crimson sport coats, black ties, black slacks, and white shoes.
Under the direction of Casomir Bork during the 1960s, the band began having a band camp prior to the marching season. During the same time period, the band also began transitioning from the Ivy League style back to a more traditional style, modeled from the Michigan Marching Band. In 1966, Scott Whitener became the first full-time director of the Marching Scarlet Knights.
In 1968, the band officially changed from a military band to an athletic band. While football games were the main focus, the marching band also served as a pep band for home basketball games. Soon after the band’s transition, Rutgers University began offering course credit for marching band. At the time, the Marching Scarlet Knights band was known as the “Rutgers Marching One Hundred.”
When Rutgers University began admitting women to the school in 1972, women were also allowed to join the Marching Scarlet Knights. Disputes among students arose while integrating women into the marching band, and internal problems led to the disbanding of the local chapter of the band fraternity Kappa Kappa Psi.
...
Wikipedia