Traditions
Being a student group with more than 45 years of existence, we have quite a few traditions, some of which date back to our very origins, and some of which were more recently imposed. Below, take a read about them!
We have a bunch of traditions, which keep on increasing year after year!
When the Saints!
When Andy and Kyle took over the leadership of the remnants of the MITMB in the fall of 2023, they decided to each impose some traditions from the marching bands they were each part of before coming to MIT (the Penn Band and the Arizona State University – Sun Devil – Band, respectively). This is how playing “When the Saints go Marching In” at the end of each rehearsal became a tradition, one brought by Andy from his time at the Penn Band. Here is a little extract of what it sounds like!
Ask any member of the Penn Band where this tradition came from and you’ll be surprised we aren’t doing “Auld Lang Syne” yet.
Maroon and Gold (or Maroon and Grey?)
Similarly to “When the Saints”, Maroon and Gold (known as Maroon and Grey for our purposes?) became our unofficial official fight song, brought by Kyle from the Arizona State University Band. Not a bad tune!
We play it better than the ASU band.
Arise all ye of MIT
Now, one tradition that is true to the MIT marching band concerns “Arise all ye of MIT”, our official school song. At the end of each rehearsal, after playing “When the Saints”, we go down to the lobby of building 7 and, pretending we are also a choir, sing this song together. In the video below, you can hear the MIT Chorallaries give it a shot.
You got to admit, the Chorallaries sound pretty good.
Scholarship?
Many people have asked us whether band offers a scholarship. If you do apply to MIT, get in, and choose to matriculate, the institute itself provides a great deal of need-based financial aid.
For one lucky soul, the MIT marching band can offer a special type of scholarship that only few can appreciate. The nature of this scholarship is unique to the marching band. This scholarship is made possible by a magnanimous gesture on the part of Mr. Bill Andrews, and formerly by Miss Danielle Arviso and Miss Jennie Hango.
Our scholarship used to be given out on a random lottery basis. To register for the scholarship lottery, one simply visited the Marching Band table during the Activities Midway during Orientation. Those that chose to participate in the band became eligible for the drawing.
Now, the scholarship is awarded to a new member of the band annually based on a speech cognizance test during officer elections. Below, you’ll find a list of previous recipients of our scrumptious scholarship.
Who’ll be the lucky winner on the 2024 – 2025 year??