(09-04-2024 08:54 AM)TexanFan Wrote: This is kinda off topic and minor, but any other Tarleton fans having concerns with the band? The university is growing in all areas but the band as it is smaller this year than last. The university sold the Honeywell Ranch a few years ago with the intent of using the proceeds to grow the band program. If you were at the Baylor game the contrast between the bands was undeniable. I was texting a parent of a Tarleton band member during the Baylor game and was hoping some Tarleton folks were watching the difference, and the parent replied the answer was probably no as there doesn’t seem to be much enthusiasm for changes. The SFA band is bigger and out performs us.
I, too, have noticed that the TSU marching band seems stagnant and declining in the number of personnel. Maybe not the Color Guard / Flag Corps, but the number of actual musicians marching with instruments is definitely way down from prior years. I was at the BU-TSU game and couldn't even hear our band from my seat even though they were tootin' their horns, and we looked like a Class 3A size unit.
You're correct: enrollment is growing, programs are growing, funding is on the rise, etc., but The Sound & The Fury... it's on the decline. Yes, the University sold off Hunewell Ranch a few years ago and the $5.4 million in proceeds from the sale were used to create an endowment to benefit Tarleton Bands via scholarships, uniform and equipment purchases, etc. to the tune of about $250K per year, per the Tarleton news release.
From what I've been told by several faculty members in the Fine Arts area, the current Director of Athletic Bands has been on campus for 16 years and now has more assistant band directors, access to more funding resources (Hunewell Endowment) and a larger "talent pool" of students to recruit from than ever before in the history of Tarleton Bands. But what does he have to show for it? A smaller band?
Heck, there are high schools with total enrollment equal to just the freshman class at Tarleton, and their bands are 2, 3 or 4x the size of The Sound & The Fury! Some faculty members have said retention of band members year over year at Tarleton is the primary concern, and that the current Director of Athletic Bands constantly complains that he doesn't have "enough support." Someone in the College of Fine Arts or Music Department Administration should take note and make a change in leadership! Sixteen years—five of which are D1—is a long time to lead a program and not see significant growth to keep pace with the new era of Tarleton athletics.