{"id":26756,"date":"2016-02-01T08:41:56","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T13:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=26756"},"modified":"2016-02-08T10:12:43","modified_gmt":"2016-02-08T15:12:43","slug":"catch-the-new-royals-pep-band-loud-proud-and-sassy-in-the-stands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/catch-the-new-royals-pep-band-loud-proud-and-sassy-in-the-stands\/","title":{"rendered":"Catch the new Royals pep band \u2014 loud, proud and sassy in the stands"},"content":{"rendered":"

E-M-U! E-M-U!<\/p>\n

If Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s Yoder Arena seems a bit peppier this winter, look no further than the northeast corner of the basketball court floor. EMU\u2019s new pep band is loud, they\u2019re proud and they\u2019re here to stay.<\/p>\n

\"pepstands\"<\/a>
In the stands: top row, left to right: Andrew Troyer and Daniel Schlosser; second row, Chase Dunn, Taylor Bronaugh, Hannah Menefee and Abigail Shumaker; and on the lowest row, Victoria Campbell, Alison Helfrinch and Brooke Bevington.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe support has been growing since our very first game,\u201d says sophomore Josh Calderon, the band\u2019s student director. \u201cWe want it to get to the point where we change the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

That \u201cfirst game\u201d was on Dec. 19, when the band played for Alumni Appreciation Day games against Messiah College. Although students had already left for Christmas break, alumni seemed to embrace the band. There was toe-tapping and head-bobbing in the stands, and a few of the more courageous followed the pep band\u2019s lead, holding up their hands and wiggling their fingers during foul shots in D-1-crowd-type fashion.<\/p>\n

The band has played at several more games in January and plans to be at all the remaining games on the schedule this winter: Feb. 6, Feb. 16, and Feb. 20.<\/p>\n

Calderon, from Grottoes, Virginia, says he got the idea for an EMU pep band while taking a marching band course at nearby James Madison University last year. He played tuba for the Marching Dukes and in JMU\u2019s pep band and thought, \u201cWhy couldn\u2019t we have something like this at EMU?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"pep<\/a>
On the floor, cheering on an EMU Royal at the foul line: left to right, Sarah Regan, Chase Dunn, director John Dull and student director Josh Calderon, David Holsinger on drums, and Jordan Shelley.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He contacted John Dull, adjunct faculty in the music department and director of the EMU Wind Ensemble<\/a>, and Dull said, \u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJosh just has such a handle on it,\u201d Dull says. \u201cHe\u2019s so gifted. That\u2019s what we\u2019re here for\u2014to enable students to do what they do best and let it grow. It\u2019s his thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calderon recruited members, Dull became the band\u2019s faculty advisor, conversations took place with the athletics department and the idea\u2019s tempo cranked up to prestissimo<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe response has been huge,\u201d Dull says. \u201cThe athletes love it, the coaches love it, we\u2019re hearing great comments from fans, especially older fans, and the band loves doing it. It fills a niche. Maybe it wasn\u2019t an obvious hole until we started, but now we hear, \u2018Wow, what did we do before?\u2019 We\u2019re already talking about next year. We\u2019re looking forward to where this could go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Athletics director Dave King is looking that way, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a pep band at EMU sporting events has been a dream of mine since I arrived here 10 years ago, so I\u2019m grateful for their vision,\u201d King says. \u201cLive music adds to the game environment and often encourages more student involvement. I\u2019m excited about what they\u2019re doing for basketball and will be looking for other athletic events where their presence can enhance the atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

The band may expand to attendance at volleyball games and soccer matches, Dull said. The band has been spreading the word off the court, too, aided by the communications skills of James Madison University student and band member Chase Dunn. They have hammed it up with a huge poster advertising social media contact information (Twitter\/Instagram: @emupepband; Facebook: www.facebook.com\/EMUPepBand), did a T-shirt giveaway over the holidays and have received hundreds of \u201clikes\u201d and supporters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat tells me we\u2019re getting there,\u201d Dull said. \u201cWe\u2019re going in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"David<\/a>
David Holsinger, Alison Helfrinch and Bekah Mongold.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Don\u2019t expect just music from the band, either. When they\u2019re not playing, they\u2019re leading cheers and chants, holding up signs, counting down with the shot clock and, of course, giving the opponents some good-natured heckling. They want to spread spirit any way they can.<\/p>\n

Brooke Bevington, a freshman flute player who went to high school with Calderon, jumped at the chance to join the band.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been great,\u201d Bevington says. \u201cThe crowd seems to be responding to us well, and we have an amazing time\u2014even when we lose. We have a bunch of fun. We might be exhausted from a full day of school, but we still come out and support our team. It\u2019s what we do.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

E-M-U! E-M-U! If Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s Yoder Arena seems a bit peppier this winter, look no further than the northeast corner of the basketball court floor. EMU\u2019s new pep band ... read more about Catch the new Royals pep band \u2014 loud, proud and sassy in the stands<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26777,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7931,4516,5583,14715,4513],"tags":[17275,17285,6770,17276,17279,16138,17273],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-26756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-athletics","category-campus-community","category-campus-life","category-student-life","tag-andrew-troyer","tag-david-holsinger","tag-david-king","tag-david-schlosser","tag-hannah-menefee","tag-john-dull","tag-josh-calderon"],"yoast_head":"\nCatch the new Royals pep band \u2014 loud, proud and sassy in the stands - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2016\/catch-the-new-royals-pep-band-loud-proud-and-sassy-in-the-stands\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Catch the new Royals pep band \u2014 loud, proud and sassy in the stands - EMU News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"E-M-U! 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