Starting in the fall of 2025, the Ferris marching band will return to the field for the first time in over 30 years.
Since last year, Ferris has been looking at reinstating the marching band. Now, with the help of the new Director of Orchestra and Pep Band Daniel Atwood, the official return has been announced.
“In the posting for the job, [Ferris] mentioned the possibility of creating a marching band,” Atwood said. “Part of my role coming in was to create a proposal for President Pink…to see if it would be feasible to bring the marching band back.”
The proposal included an expected five-year budget and considerations regarding equipment, uniforms, rehearsal and storage space and anything else needed to move forward, such as a two-week-long band camp before the fall 2025 semester.
“We anticipate there being scholarship awards available but none of that has been fully determined yet,” Atwood said.
The possibility of credit hours for being a part of the marching band has also been a topic of discussion and has yet to be confirmed or denied.
Since the approval of the proposal, there have been efforts to raise money to support the marching band, including involvement in One Day for Dogs.
“We raised over $7,000 on that one day,” Atwood said.
With the money raised, the alumni and community interests have been captured.
“When you don’t have a marching band performing on the field there is something that feels lacking even though our pep band does a great job, to have a marching band in full uniform [on the field] creates a whole different college game day atmosphere,” Atwood said.
This atmosphere is not only emphasized by Atwood but also by students who have already joined the coming marching band. Digital animation and game design sophomore Brandon Lee also felt including a marching band does something special for a crowd.
“There’s much more of an impact getting people excited and involved,” Lee said. “Instead of looking at a little yellow and red section in the crowd, we see [the band] spanned across the entire football field and we’re all thinking look at us. This is Ferris, this is who we are and this is our impact [making] everyone around us just build in excitement.” Lee said.
For psychology freshman Katelon Armentrout, being on the field means showing their family what he can do.
“Marching band was always kind of a show and tell for my family,” Armentrout said. “When my family came to homecoming, we just played a few songs and hung out. It’s not as cool as when my mom can say ‘Oh there’s my kid on the 40-yard line.’”
Information security and technology junior Matthew Koontz felt the marching band gave him a community.
“It’s a great way to get to know people and have a lot of fun,” Koontz said. “You get to be a part of something.”
These students and many more have already committed to the Ferris marching band and are excited to get back to doing what they love.
The Ferris marching band will be hitting the field on the first football game during the fall of 2025 and invite students, faculty and the community to come and support Ferris athletics and the band.
Any students wanting to get involved can reach out to Atwood at danielatwood@nullferris.edu.
C.E. EC / C.F. / AM