A Night on Campus without Athletics.

[FirefightnRick]

The NT Exes hosted the pre concert reception for our alumni at the Gateway Center tonight, prior to the "Sounds of the Stadium" concert.

Dr. James Scott, Dean of the College of Music and Green Brigade director Nick Williams met with us during the reception and for those who bleed Mean Green athletics, they had some exciting things to share with us.

Nick Williams first spoke and said he's been on and off our campus since '88 while working on all three of his degrees(he's finishing up his Phd soon), and he's noticed a vast improvement of our athletics on campus and it has helped him in meeting two of his goals since becoming director. First, he wanted to improve the spirit of the band and feels he has seen an improvement. I agree. Second, he wanted to increase the percentage of non track music students as members of the GB. Historically it's been around 5%. These are students who do not have to take marching band, but do it for the fun of it basically. This year the GB has a membership over 300, and their non track membership is up to 30%.

This tells me that we have improved greatly on that thing called school spirit, which will reap huge rewards for our university in the future.

Dr. Scott reiterated on some of what Mr. Williams had to say, that they wanted to improve the image of the band with such subjects as the new uni's that the band is sporting this season and pay better attention to their music selections and their performance on the field. He also stated that since he became Dean of the College of Music he, Dr. Pohl and Rick Villareal have all worked very hard together to improve both areas and bring more unity to our university. He said the improvement of the football program over the past 4 years has helped make some of this possible and has helped the College of Music and the GB increase it's visibility nationally. He stated that over the years, he had spoken to many College of Music Deans across the country, and many gave advice that, one thing they had done wrong, and wished they could take back was, they had handed over control of their marching bands to the athletic departments. Dr. Scott knows he would never have to do that at NT because both departments at North Texas want the same results. He reiterated how very excited he was at how well the Music and Athletic Departments have worked together to help each other meet their goals.

This tells me that after all these many "insert years here" years we finally have the leadership in place at North Texas within the AD and College of Music that realizes how very important university wide unity is.

I have said for many years that the Music and AD dept can each benefit from each others' successes and it now appears so. We as alumni need to bare down, continue to support these programs, and when we can, let these people know how much we appreciate the improvements.

I can't say this enough........Thank you Rick Villareal.

Rick

Edited October 26, 2005 by FirefightnRick

[DallasGreen]

Kudoos, Rick, well said. I couldn't help but notice last night how much fun the band was having with their performance. They blew the lid off the Pit to a standing ovation, all in all a great event for the EXES, thanks to all who attended. The one downer was that in spite of performances by all 3 Denton HS bands ( Guyer, Ryan, & DHS) there were woefully few parents there to support them. I could not help but think that if this had been 3 Lewisville, Carrollton-FB, or Plano school bands that the place would have been packed. Further evidence that Denton not only fails to support UNT, they don't even support their own high schools!!!

[UNTFan23]

My favorite performance was the indoor percussion ensemble. Those guys/gals rocked, and they had fun doing it.

[SilverEagle]

My favorite performance was the indoor percussion ensemble.  Those guys/gals rocked, and they had fun doing it.

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They used to do that during games. I really miss that.

[NT Drummer]

Cooperation between the Athletic Department & the College of Music - that's great! And I'm glad to hear the GB is up to 300 members - they really have a good full sound now. I don't think the UT Longhorn band is that much larger.

They used to do that during games. I really miss that.

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The only problem is that the drum line's during-game performances werre literally during the game - while plays were ocurring. If they don't do it anymore, it might be because of the same conference rule which makes the band stop when a play starts.

The band usually plays whole tunes during time-outs; maybe the drum line could take one of the time-outs by itself.

[GreenBrigadeDebbie]

I agree. I have personally witnessed an increase in spirit during the 5 glorious seasons I spent with the Green Brigade. I remember when we hosted Baylor in 2000 that many members of the GB shouted "Go Green Go Gold" during Fly Like an Eagle instead of shouting the "Go Green Go White" like it was written into the part. Now there are many in the GB that heckle the refs when a bad call happens (and in many cases they heckle even if the right call was made...they just want to vent frustrations). Many really do support athletics. Many people came to UNT 3 years ago that I thought would never set foot inside Fouts Field after their marching band requirement was fulfilled. Those students (and more) are still attending the games and they are wearing UNT garb!!! I too have noticed more non music majors joining. I was one of those non majors who joined the GB. And I have no regrets about doing so. Mr. Williams is an asset not just to the College of Music but to the university as a whole. I have no doubts that with Mr. Williams direction, the spirit on this campus will continue to grow. Look at what he has done since he took over the GB reigns just 2 years ago.

I salute Mr. Williams and to the athletic department for finally forging a bond. Things like this make my heart sing with joy!!!!

Edited October 27, 2005 by GreenBrigadeDebbie

[PlummMeanGreen]

The culmination of this newfound cooperation that is obviously not of the lip-service variety of the past; but a great way for both NT Athletics and the College of Music to really gussy it up would be if they would do like Baylor, Texas Tech and others in the Southwest do and that is with (here we go again) holding an annual NT Band Day on a Game Day each Fall.

Anyone else think we might have some room at Fouts Field for 4-6,000 Texas/Oklahoma bandsmen at one of our last 3 home games in November? Might even that 4-6,000 if we had a Band Day this Fall even be the possible difference of our having our NCAA butts in seats average this year or not?

When NT discovers the joy of "large group" promotions they will see what other schools have known for years (and what we've been neglecting for years since Maurice McAdow was the marching band director).

Those of us who grew up in the Houston area and attended a few UH Band Days would tell you they are quite impressive promotions and with the new NCAA rules for attendance, you can count the butts of each bandsmen whether they had a ticket underwritten for them or not.

100 students who would enroll at NT because they attended an NT Band Day would make any annual band day in Denton more than cost effective.

LONG LIVE THE MEMORY OF 'FESSOR FLOYD GRAHAM!

GO 'STROS!

Edited October 27, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen