The music stopped at Morris Brown. Two decades later, it might start again.
As president of Morris Brown College, there’s one question that Kevin E. James says he gets more than any other: “When are you gonna bring the band back?”
It’s hard to tell the story of the private Atlanta historically Black college without mentioning its famed Marching Wolverines Band. Its sound and showmanship earned “the best band in the land” national acclaim, with performances in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, an Outkast track named after the school and a key role in the hit 2002 film “Drumline.” But after the school lost its accreditation in 2002, putting it on the verge of total financial ruin, the music stopped. The band was discontinued in 2003.
Two decades later, the school regained its accreditation. It’s steadily increased its enrollment, and in a sign of how far Morris Brown has come after nearly closing, James is dreaming of getting the band back together.
“Our band is central to who Morris Brown College is and was,” said James. “When I think of restoring this institution to its former glory, I would be remiss … if I excluded the marching band.”
Much would have to fall into place before the Marching Wolverines could reclaim that former glory. For starters, the college would need an injection of funding. James estimates that a $5 million donation would be necessary to create a 100-to-200-piece band for three to four years.
And a band of that size (at its height, the Marching Wolverines consisted of roughly 300 members) requires space to practice and perform; Morris Brown no longer owns the now dilapidated Herndon Stadium.
Moreover, the school is primarily focused on increasing enrollment. It aims to double its enrollment from 400 to 800 over the next five years. To help get there, the college has been bringing back other student activities, such as Greek life, the choir, fashion club and honor societies.
If the school can get that $5 million donation, the marching band could be next to return.
Jeffery L. Miller, who played in the band from 1988 to 1993, said it would be a recruitment tool. And he would know. Miller himself was recruited from Columbus. He still remembers watching the Marching Wolverines for the first time.
“From the sheer sound, the musicality and the pageantry of the band, it was just on a different level,” recalled Miller, who now works in disaster recovery. He made up his mind then and there. He would attend Morris Brown College. “That’s the effect of a marching band of that caliber.”
It’s a familiar story. DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox said she was a little girl when she was introduced to the band at a parade.
“I said, ‘When I grow up, I want to do that,’” said Maddox, who went on to join the Bubbling Brown Sugar, the dance team that performed with the band. “I never looked at another institution. It’s always been Morris Brown.”
The band made a brief return in 2009. Using old uniforms and instruments dug out of Herndon Stadium, it grew to roughly 80 members, a mix of students and community members. It only lasted until 2013, but if backed with adequate funding, the school hopes to reinstate the program on a permanent basis.
James called the band a “literal walking billboard” for the school. He thinks it could bring in revenue as well as students who would want to fill its ranks. “If I brought the band back, that’s 250 students right there without even trying,” he said.
The band meant so much to alumni that, in lieu of an existing band, many have been coming back to perform during homecoming. In preparation for that performance, more than 15 alumni attended a practice on a Tuesday during homecoming week, with the sounds of drums, trumpets, clarinets and saxophones filling the halls of the Dr. Gloria L. Anderson Multi-Purpose Complex.
“We love our institution,” said Kelly Fanning, an alum who previously served as band director. “I want these guys to come back and have fun and relive the memories that they used to have.”
Performing can be taxing, particularly with the energy level that helped set the Marching Wolverines apart. The band marched 168 steps per minute, a very fast pace that, combined with its powerful sound, mesmerized spectators.
“We’re getting older, so some of things we did before we can’t necessarily do, but we can at least play the music,” said alum Thomas G. Warner Jr., who is now the assistant band director at North Carolina A&T State University.
Alumni hope a new generation can soon take up the mantle.
“We are on sound footing financially. Our educational programs are going in the right direction. Once we add just a little more to our base, I think it will be the perfect time for the marching band,” said Miller, who previously served on the school’s board of trustees. “And then when we step out and we start to do what we do, it’s just going to be a big, big, big, big deal for the city, not just Morris Brown College, and a big deal for HBCUs at large.”
