Santa Barbara City College was established in 1909 making it one of the oldest City Colleges in America, and it’s packed with an active cheer and dance selection but what it doesn’t offer is a marching band.
The 116-year-old City College has a plethora of different sports, clubs and extracurricular activities. City College offers a variety of programs that appeal to lots of students looking to branch out and/or hone their skills in crafts they are already familiar with. However, there is a potential niche within the music department at City College that’s being left out of tune. Is it time for City College to face the music? Is a marching band long overdo? Director of Athletics LaDeane Hansten sure thinks so as she went into further details about her readiness for a marching band and why there hasn’t been one.
“I’ve reached out to the music department a few times but they don’t seem to have that kind of ensemble,” Hansten said.
Hansten talked about this idea of having a marching band in the past.
“Not much has been addressed other than thinking it’s a great idea, but I would absolutely love it, just having them in the stands.” She said. “I think it’s a huge part of the college experience and I know how much cheer and dance has excited the crowd so adding a band to that would be amazing.”
A marching band is not the only thing that’s been left off the setlist, Hansten also discussed the potential marching band students from all over the world who attend City College right after graduating high school and could possibly feel underrepresented and lose their skills and/or love for their niche while attending their two-year university that doesn’t offer a marching band.
“There’s nothing worse than having band all throughout high school and you’re super into it but then you have this gap of two years where you don’t get to do it and we all know how important practice is,” Hansten said.
Hansten dove in deep on the subject by bringing mental health awareness into the conversation.
“Here’s the big thing, we love athletics because it supports student athletes’ mental health. We know when things aren’t going well, our students will turn to exercise. Music is the same way for a whole different group of people and if you lose that outlet you can lose yourself.”she said.
City College’s Cheer Coach Julia Hand added her own note to the marching band conversation.
“I think it would be great to have a marching band,” Hand said. “So many of our quarter-break dances are designed around traditional band songs and we’ve just been playing them over the speakers but the intention is that collaboration between a band and a cheer team,”
She continued.
“I think it would be fun, it would add so much to the games, having more entertainment and attendance at the games would add to SBCC as a whole and having cheer and band and the crowd all feed off of each other’s energies, it just takes the environment to the next level.”
When it comes to the question of who’s initiative it would take between faculty and students to get a band at City College, Hand believes that everyone needs to be on one accord.
“I think there needs to be both faculty and student initiative but I think like cheer at one point and The Marettes, it needs to be handled like a club, it seems like so much that we have at Santa Barbara City College is student-generated and as long as there’s interest the student body supports whatever it is like Cheer or Dance or Band.”
The question still begs on why there isn’t a marching band at City College. Is it because of lack of funding, lack of student musicians, or the lack of faculty interest? The answer to this question is simply that it’s never been brought up before. Santa Barbara has stood high on its cliffs for 116 years and yet within those years a serious conversation about a marching band has never found its place in the lineup. According to Hansten and Hand, in order to get a marching band in the stands and out on the field, it’s going to take a few special students who are ready to make history.
