CONWAY, Ark
(March 30, 2016) – Hendrix College will be playing a new tune at home football
games in Young Wise-Memorial Stadium this fall, thanks to a new student pep
band.
The new student
pep band is underwritten by a $50,000 gift from Hendrix alumna Carolyn L.
Miller ’76, a member of the Hendrix Board of Trustees, and her husband David B.
Miller through the David B. Miller Family Foundation.
The gift will
support start-up costs for the student band, including instruments, music, and
uniforms.
The new student
band is the result of growing student interest and the excitement at home
football games, according to Hendrix Provost Dr. Terri Bonebright.
“Bringing
football back clearly started the buzz,” Bonebright said, adding that a local high
school pep band that played at a home game was “a big hit.”
“For me, it’s all
about community involvement and creating an exciting atmosphere in the
stadium,” said Hendrix music professor Dr. Gretchen Renshaw, conductor of the
Hendrix Wind Ensemble. Renshaw joined the Hendrix music faculty in fall 2015.
“It will also add
a new element for the Music Department and a new outlet for student musicians
who want to be involved in this kind of group,” said Renshaw, who assisted with
the Concert and Athletic Bands as a graduate student at Michigan State
University.
The
audition-based group will initially include 20 – 30 students, who will receive
course credit for participation in performances and weekly rehearsals in the
fall semester. A small group of students who serve as band leaders and assistants
will also receive financial assistance. The size of the group is scalable to
accommodate more musicians in the future.
The student pep band
will feature wind and percussion instruments and will perform the Hendrix fight
song and alma mater, as well as pop music
transcriptions, Renshaw said.
“We’re really
excited about having the pep band at home football games this fall,” said Amy
Weaver, director of athletics at Hendrix. “It will add a new dimension to our
program for students and fans, and we couldn’t be more thrilled.”
For more
information on the Hendrix pep band, contact Dr. Gretchen Renshaw at 501-450-1422
or renshaw@hendrix.edu.
About Hendrix College
Hendrix College is
a private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas. Founded in 1876 and affiliated
with the United Methodist Church since 1884, Hendrix is featured in Colleges That
Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think about Colleges and is nationally recognized in numerous
college guides, lists, and rankings for academic quality, community,
innovation, and value. For more information, visit www.hendrix.edu.