COLLEGE

Colleges: WPI pep band celebrates 50 years of entertainment for Engineers

Jennifer Toland
jennifer.toland@telegram.com
The WPI pep band recently celebrated its 50th anniversary of providing entertainment for the athletic programs at the school.

During WPI basketball games, the WPI Pep Band fills its section of the Harrington Auditorium bleachers opposite the Engineers’ bench, and with its music, merriment and vigor, entertains fans and motivates the men’s and women’s teams.

“It’s created sort of an identity going to a WPI basketball game,” WPI men’s coach Chris Bartley said. “As a player and a coach here, you grow to expect their sounds and you appreciate it. You appreciate how committed those pep band members are. It’s not just playing their instrument. It’s all the other things that go into it — they do some cheering as well. It’s a whole experience that I think makes coming to a WPI basketball game unique. I love the pep band.”

Similarly, the WPI Marching Band performs at football games and rouses fans at Alumni Stadium, especially during its halftime shows.

The WPI Marching & Pep Band is marking its 50th year and recently celebrated the milestone with a Zoom gathering that brought together about 50 current band members and alumni, including former Pep Band member Bruce Webster from the class of 1974. They shared stories and the special pride that comes with being in the band.

The WPI Marching & Pep Band is a completely student-run organization and plays at all home football and basketball games, as well as some club hockey games and the parade during Alumni Weekend.

“I feel like how much everyone cares about what they’re doing is definitely reflected in how we carry ourselves,” junior Katie Rodriguez, a tuba player who is president of the WPI Marching & Pep Band. “You can see how much we love the school and being a part of our organization. Everyone in pep band loves what they’re doing and you can tell that and it translates into our energy and it just creates such a good environment and I think that reflects on our performance and people feel that energy at games and it really makes a great community.”

In addition to performing on campus, the WPI band also played during Worcester Sharks games at the DCU Center and on opening night of Worcester State’s new gym a couple years ago. On the national scene, the band played at Tulane University and in the opening ceremony of “The Bachelor” spinoff “Bachelor Winter Games,” two years ago in Manchester, Vermont.

Each football season, the WPI band performs a three-song halftime show, which it starts rehearsing during band camp two weeks before classes start. The band had a Beatles show planned for this fall.

After every basketball win, the band plays “The Hey Song” (“Rock and Roll Part 2”). A favorite in-game chant of the band — “Give me a ‘W,’ Give me a ‘O,’” — and proceeding to spell out “Worcester Polytechnic Institute,” originated with the WPI pep bands of the 1970s.

“Back then,” Rodriguez said, “if they got a letter wrong they would start all over. We don’t do that anymore.”

Without sports at WPI this fall due to the coronavirus pandemic, the band has been silent, but it has begun practicing marching techniques on the field while wearing masks and distancing six feet apart. Rodriguez said the drum line, which can play its instruments while wearing masks, should be out there for Saturday’s practice.

On the rare occasions the band is not at a basketball game, such as during a term break, it is noticeable.

“When they’re not there it’s kind of like watching one of these NFL games on TV with no fans,” Bartley said. “Something is missing and it’s not the same. I think they give us a feeling of confidence and comfort that ‘We have our whole crew together here, so we’re ready.’ I look at them as part of our program.”

Special thanks to the students in Dave Nordman’s Sports Media & Communications class at Assumption for inviting me to join them via Zoom last week.

We had an engaging 30-minute Q&A that covered topics such as writing, social media, recent stories I’ve worked on, and sports, including Assumption athletics and, of course, New Orleans Saints All-Pro return specialist Deonte Harris, who starred for the Greyhounds from 2015-18.

—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTandG.

The WPI pep band has been keeping busy despite there not being any athletic competitions to liven things up at.