Spirit of Gold Marching Band

Last updated
Spirit of Gold Marching Band
Spirit of Gold Drums.jpg
School Vanderbilt University
Location Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Conference Southeastern Conference
Founded1909
DirectorDouglas Morin
Assistant DirectorClark Hubbard
Members120 (approx.)
Fight song"Dynamite"

The Spirit of Gold Marching Band is the collegiate marching band organized by Vanderbilt University.

Contents

Membership

A unique feature of the Spirit of Gold is that membership in the marching band is open to all students enrolled at Vanderbilt as well as students from other colleges in the Nashville area. This includes Belmont, Lipscomb, Fisk, Trevecca, Vol State and Nashville State. [1] [2] This does not apply to Tennessee State University as they already have their own marching band, the Aristocrat of Bands.

Performances

Football

The band forms the core of the student section at intercollegiate football games hosted by Vanderbilt at Vanderbilt Stadium and performs at all Vanderbilt Commodores home football games, as well as a select number of away games.

The Spirit of Gold works with the Office of the Dean of Students to coordinate the band's performances at football games. The band has developed many traditions that help add to the exciting atmosphere of Southeastern Conference football on game day. For example, the band leads a parade through campus before games and provides music for pre-game and in-game spirit. The band plays the university's fight song, "Dynamite", throughout the game as well.

The Spirit of Gold prepares a unique halftime show for every home game, performing from variety of musical genres and eras. Recent performances have featured music from Elton John, Fall Out Boy, Lil Nas X, Rihanna, and Beyoncé. The last halftime performance of the year is traditionally a completely student-run, student-organized show.

Basketball, Anchor of Sound

During the spring semester, a 50-piece pep band is formed for performances at Vanderbilt's men's and women's basketball games played in Memorial Gym. [3] Anchor of Sound performs music similar to that which Spirit of Gold performs.

Tau Beta Sigma

The Eta Phi chapter of Tau Beta Sigma serves the Spirit of Gold. The co-ed chapter has a history of being one of the largest chapters in the nation[ citation needed ] and is the most recent recipient of the Grace and A. Frank Martin Chapter Leadership Award, a biennial award that honors the outstanding chapter in the nation. [4] All members of the Spirit of Gold, regardless of university, are able to seek membership in Eta Phi.

Notes

  1. "Ensembles | Vanderbilt University Band". Archived from the original on 2008-05-11. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
  2. "Vanderbilt Spirit of Gold Marching Band". Vanderbilt Athletic Bands. Retrieved 2022-12-04.
  3. "Basketball Band | Vanderbilt University Band". Archived from the original on 2008-07-06. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
  4. "Tau Beta Sigma - National Honorary Band Service Sorority". Archived from the original on 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2010-11-15.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goin' Band from Raiderland</span> Marching band of Texas Tech University

The Goin' Band from Raiderland is the 418-member marching band of Texas Tech University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Honor society</span> Rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers

In the United States, an honor society is a rank organization that recognizes excellence among peers. Numerous societies recognize various fields and circumstances. The Order of the Arrow, for example, is the National Honor Society of the Boy Scouts of America. Chiefly, the term refers to scholastic honor societies, those that recognize students who excel academically or as leaders among their peers, often within a specific academic discipline.

The Cavalier Marching Band (CMB) is the marching band at the University of Virginia. The band's original director, William "Bill" Pease, was the first full-time marching band director in the history of the University of Virginia. The Cavalier Marching Band made its debut on September 11, 2004, after a considerable donation was made by University of Virginia benefactors Carl and Hunter Smith to found the band in 2003. The CMB uses a mixture of both DCI style glide step and high step in its performances. Of its 200 members, all seven undergraduate schools at the University of Virginia are represented.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tau Beta Sigma</span> Co-educational service sorority

Tau Beta Sigma Honorary Band Sorority, is a co-educational service sorority.

Professional fraternities, in the North American fraternity system, are organizations whose primary purpose is to promote the interests of a particular profession and whose membership is restricted to students in that particular field of professional education or study. This may be contrasted with service fraternities and sororities, whose primary purpose is community service, and social fraternities and sororities, whose primary purposes are generally aimed towards some other aspect, such as the development of character, friendship, leadership, or literary ability.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kappa Kappa Psi</span> US collegiate honor fraternity

Kappa Kappa Psi National Honorary Band Fraternity, is a fraternity for college and university band members in the United States. It was founded on November 27, 1919, on Thanksgiving Day, at Oklahoma Agricultural and Mechanical College, now known as Oklahoma State University, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sigma Alpha Iota</span> International music fraternity for women

Sigma Alpha Iota (ΣΑΙ) is a national music fraternity. Formed to "uphold the highest standards of music" and "to further the development of music in America and throughout the world", it continues to provide musical and educational resources to its members and the general public. Sigma Alpha Iota operates its own national philanthropy, Sigma Alpha Iota Philanthropies, Inc. Sigma Alpha Iota is a member of the National Interfraternity Music Council and the Professional Fraternity Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Pride of the Sunshine</span> Marching band at University of Florida

The University of Florida Fightin' Gator Marching Band, also known as The Pride of the Sunshine, is the official marching band for the University of Florida. The current era of the band is also referred to as The Sound of the Gator Nation. They perform at every Florida Gators home football game at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and also at various other events such as pep rallies, parades, and the annual Orange and Blue spring scrimmage game. A full band usually travels to two away games a year while at other games a small/medium-sized pep band will attend. Members of the Gator Band, as well as other University of Florida students, are encouraged to join other ensembles such as concert band, jazz band, basketball band, and volleyball band. The twirlers for the Gator Band are referred to as the Gatorettes and the color guard is called the Florida Visual Ensemble.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eta Sigma Phi</span>

Eta Sigma Phi (ΗΣΦ) is a collegiate honor society for the study of Classics. It grew out of a local undergraduate classical club founded by a group of students in the Department of Greek at the University of Chicago in 1914. This organization later united with a similar organization at Northwestern University and became Phi Sigma. Phi Sigma became a national fraternity in 1924, organizing chapters at leading colleges and universities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Marching Band</span> Marching band of the Georgia Institute of Technology

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Marching Band is the official marching band of the Georgia Institute of Technology. Founded in 1908 by a group of 14 students, the Georgia Tech Band is one of the school's oldest student organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wildcat Marching Band</span> Marching band of the University of Kentucky

The Wildcat Marching Band (WMB) is the marching band of the University of Kentucky, located in Lexington, Kentucky. The WMB performs at all UK home football games and selected away games. The WMB's repertoire ranges from contemporary jazz to classical favorites. Any UK, BCTC, or Transylvania University student, regardless of major, is eligible for membership. The Wildcat Marching Band is directed by Dr. Shayna Stahl.

This article describes smaller collegiate sororities created in the nineteenth century and early to middle twentieth century on campuses in the United States and Canada. These sororities are defunct. Individual chapters may have affiliated with National Panhellenic Conference (NPC) sororities.

The Fire of the Carolinas, the marching band at Elon University, is a contemporary ensemble that performs at all Phoenix home football games, select away football games, and at various University events throughout the fall. All Elon students are eligible for membership within the band which includes winds, percussion, color guard, feature twirler, and dance team. FOTC members are from almost every area of study on campus, with over 30 different majors represented each year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phi Beta Delta (fraternity)</span> Defunct national collegiate fraternity

Phi Beta Delta (ΦΒΔ) was a college social fraternity in the United States founded at Columbia University on April 12, 1912. In 1941 the fraternity merged with Pi Lambda Phi.

The Bearkat Marching Band, also known as The Famous Bearkat Band or the BMB, is the marching band at Sam Houston State University. The band was founded in 1910 under the direction of C.W. Feuge, and is currently directed by Brian Gibbs. The band appears at Sam Houston football and basketball home games, as well as at pep rallies, the annual Battle of the Piney Woods in Houston, and occasionally at in-state away games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Marching Virginians</span> Non-military college marching band at Virginia Tech

The Marching Virginians are one of the two collegiate marching bands at Virginia Tech. Because the Marching Virginians draw from the general student body, they are considerably larger than the Highty Tighties and have about 330 members. Despite offering no scholarships to band members, The Marching Virginians consist of students from every college and virtually every major within the university, as well as several graduate students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phi Epsilon Kappa</span>

Phi Epsilon Kappa (ΦΕΚ) is a national professional fraternity for persons engaged in or pursuing careers in the fields of physical education, health, recreation, dance, human performance, exercise science, sports medicine and sports management.