In fact, many parents come back to be in the alumni band when their children are in the band. While parents and children, friends and roommates may move far away from each other, they always have the band as a common memory, Johnson says. Here, he works with Robert Fleming, student executive officer, in charting for an upcoming football game. Today, charting is done on computers. The Purdue bands have blazed trails throughout the years.
Many innovations are traditions that live on today.
Here are some significant events in band history. 1886 - The Purdue military corps purchases a bugle and a military band is formed. 1904 - Paul Spotts Emrick enrolls at Purdue to study engineering. He will become a major force in the development of Purdue bands. 1905 - Emrick is named president and director of the band, a position that went to students in those days.