Happy Founders Day :: A Message from Malinda Matney

Brothers,

Today we celebrate the 88th anniversary of our Fraternity’s founding. As we enter our 89th year, it is right that we take advantage of this Thanksgiving season to be grateful for so many things:

• For the group of students and their director who together formed the foundations of Fraternity that we enjoy today.
• To the directors nationwide who have started or continued band programs over the years, often with great difficulty and few resources.
• To students who have extended their love of band, and of music generally, to add culture and spirit to their campuses.
• To alumni who have made bands a lifelong passion, through their own careers, community band membership, band concert attendance, and sharing this love with their children and families.

All of these Brothers have contributed to a lasting movement to continue a uniquely American institution–the college band.

I was privileged to celebrate First Degree with a chapter this weekend. They start the tradition anew with Prospective Members learning about our Brotherhood, educating the spirit of the future. As we all remember our Founders this week, we also mark our responsibility to all Brothers of the future to provide them with a Fraternity even better than we share today.

Brothers, thank you for the gifts you provide our bands, our campuses, and each and every one of us within this Brotherhood. Best wishes as we all continue to STRIVE FOR THE HIGHEST.

AEA,
Malinda