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Nearly a month after it was banned from playing at all athletic events, the Columbia University Marching Band was permitted to perform at athletic events again Friday and did so at Columbia’s Homecoming game versus Penn Saturday, per the Columbia Spectator.
The university had prohibited the Columbia University Marching Band (CUMB) from performing at athletic events after it had lost all university funding, not meeting deadlines to become a recognized student group.’
Institutions of higher educations exist for the benefit of their students, not the other way around.
Columbia should take heed.
In case you missed it, the university has prohibited the Columbia University Marching Band (CUMB) from performing at athletic events.
The prohibition is now in its second week of effect with no end in sight, and the university attributed it to CUMB failing to meet student governing board application deadlines. Columbia is moving forward under the assumption that CUMB will not be performing at events going forward.
Days before the Columbia University Marching Band prepared to take the field for the Lions’ football home opener against Georgetown on Saturday afternoon, band leadership was informed by Athletics Director Peter Pilling, Associate Athletics Director Bob Steitz, and Director of Student Engagement William Lucas that the group would not be allowed to perform at upcoming athletic events. The group, which has been in existence since 1904 and battled the university administration for years, “will no longer exist in any official capacity,” it announced in an official statement Wednesday.