East Tennessee State University(이스트테네시주립대학교)ETSU hosts inaugural Marching Bucs Signing Day[미국주립대 장학생 프로그램]

East Tennessee State University(이스트테네시주립대학교)ETSU hosts inaugural Marching Bucs Signing Day

Forty incoming students signed on the dotted line to become members of the East Tennessee State University Marching Bucs during the band’s first official Signing Day event held Monday, April 24, at the Reece Museum.

In what is expected to become an annual event, the students – all scholarship winners who play woodwind, brass or percussion instruments – received certificates and Marching Bucs members’ caps and had their photos taken with ETSU President Brian Noland.  During the reception that followed the signing ceremony, students had the opportunity to speak with representatives from Housing and Residence Life, Financial Aid, Scholarships and the University Advisement Center and obtain information that will assist them as they begin their collegiate years at ETSU.

The students who signed with the Marching Bucs represented 38 high schools and two junior colleges in Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia.  Overall, interest in the band has been expressed by students from 74 high schools, five community colleges and two four-year universities throughout those states, as well as South Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.

According to Dr. Joe Moore, director of athletic bands in the ETSU Department of Music, the national average for band membership is one percent of undergraduate enrollment, and ETSU has surpassed that in the first two years since the return of Marching Band, with 168 in 2015 and 164 in 2016. 

Moore says the interest level and response rate for participation in the upcoming 2017 marching season is the highest to date.  While he cannot give an exact number at this point, he said the “ideal target” is 200, which would be an increase of approximately 40 members.