Ivy League bands: The beat goes on

Ivy League marching bands will have to step high this fall to match the warm reception given to last year's student musicians. From the moment of the opening kickoff. when they stirred the crowds with traditional college fight songs, until the final gun, when alma inciter cheered victors and losers alike, the colorful university bands brought the crowds to their feet again and again throughout the year. "The trademark of every Ivy League marching band was the halftime performance, when the students strutted through intricate formations while the undergraduate announcer delivered a light-hearted commentary.

Last year, the bands drew an unusual number of spirited letters from their alumni audiences. Here is a selection of excerpts from letters printed in Ivy League magazines:

Yale '27: "At the Penn game ... the Band reached an obnoxious all-time low. It was a disgrace to the University and to all those attending the game an insult . . . the simplest solution would be to abolish this pitiful organization."

Princeton '66: "Only a sophomore could tind amusing the undergraduate announcer's commentary containing enough phallic imagery for two Henry Miller novels."

Brown '32: "Somebody should tell somebody that the regular football halftime dribble is raunch, sick, and an outrage to non-Brown-student ears, and detrimental to the best interests and good reputation of Brown University. Surely the "bears" who simulated the sex act midfield on October 9 . . . should be separated from the University as of tomorrow . .

Princeton '27: "Not only was the performance in bad taste, but it also reflected a degree of immaturity which may be expected of the type of individual responsible for the graffiti to be found in public toilets and is hardly to be expected of the intellectual elite so carefully selected by Princeton's office of admission."

Yale '59: "The half-time show, if that's what it can be called, left me and many of those around me in shocked, disbelieving silence. . . . One would not think that attendance at a football game should expose one to antics which would be only appropriate at a stag party. I would point out that there were many women and children in the audience. . . ."

Brown '58: "If we have lost our sense of human dignity, we have lost everything. ... I am deeply angered and ashamed that no one can make amends to the thousands beside myself who were so well entertained on that grim Saturday afternoon."

Princeton '26: "What can be done about the vulgar, disgusting, sophomoric, so-called "themes" of the Princeton University Band during halftimes at football games? . . . The non-too-subtle innuendos and double entendres caused an audible gasp throughout the Princeton stands. ... I will not make a donation to Annual Giving this year, and the band is directly to blame."

Yale '42: "While driving to Hanover with Dartmouth friends who have attended many games with us. one of the subjects of discussion was how would the Yale band succeed in attaining even higher levels of vulgarity than it had in the past. We all agreed their success was remarkable."