William & Mary Pep Band The William & Mary Pep Band is the scramble band of the College of William and Mary . It is a student - run ensemble that performs at home football games in the fall sports season and basketball games in the winter sports season . Membership is open to anyone currently enrolled at the college . History . Before 1995 . The early history of the William and Mary Marching Band is lost in time and space . Throughout the 1920s , 1930s , and 1940s , there were various efforts to organize a marching band , each of which lasted for a few years at the most , and then collapsed . It wasn ' t until the early 1950s , with the coming of Charles R . Varner , that a marching band at William and Mary came to be . Mr . Varner came to the College in the fall of 1953 , as the new director of bands , and immediately started a reorganization of the way that the marching band was conceived . Now that it had a stable leader , the band began to flourish . In the ' 50s , ' 60s , and ' 70s , the Summer Band program provided an opportunity for high schoolers around the state an opportunity to get better at their instruments and better at marching . The fact that it was staffed by members of the William and Mary Marching band shows their dedication . However , when Chuck Varner left the College , the marching band began to hit troubled times . Diagnosed with cancer in the early 1980s , Varner was forced to retire after 33 years of service . A scholarship in his name was established by the Alumni Band Organization at William and Mary in 1989 and is awarded to an outstanding band student from any band ensembles . Varner eventually died in January 2002 , after suffering from Alzheimer ' s . After Varner retired , the Marching Band was re - created as a free - form " explosion style " band . This proved to be unsatisfactory to the College administration , who hired a new director of bands , Laura Rexroth . In addition to conducting the College ' s Concert Band and Jazz Ensemble , Rexroth was instructed to start up a traditional marching band once more . Membership rose from 17 the first year to 50 in the following years . Rexroth was able to acquire College support to purchase new marching percussion in 1990 , and new marching band uniforms for the 1993 Tercentenary celebration of the founding of the College . Although many at the College were in favor of the idea of a marching band , financial support for the ensemble was continually reduced from 1990 to 1998 . Eventually , the administration agreed that a Pep Band would require less financial support and decided to officially change the Marching Band to a non - marching Pep Band that performed from the stands . 1996 – present . In the fall of 1996 , the history of the William and Mary Pep Band began . It began as a similar institution to the Marching Band , in that it was a one credit class run by the Department of Music . Then , in the fall of 1998 , the Athletic Department took over the management of the Pep Band . As was to be expected , however , the reign that the Athletics Department had over the Pep Band was tulmultuous at best . The Athletic Department hired their own director , and practices were held in William and Mary Hall . There was also a misunderstanding amidst the Athletic Department of the reasons people joined the Pep Band . The situation became so dire that , during the basketball season , only 8 Pep Band members would show up for games . However , there was planning afoot . Under the leadership of Jason Maga , the Pep Band sat down with Athletics , the Student Government , and the Administration to work out a new direction for the Pep Band . With the full support of Athletics , the Administration , and the Student Government , the Pep Band started a flyering and mailing drive across Campus and to all incoming freshmen . In the Fall of 1999 , the Pep Band was reformed as totally student - run organization , under the Directorship of Jason Maga . From there , we have soared into the bright sky of freedom , justice , and the peptastic way . However , the Pep Band had bigger things in store for itself . No longer content with playing in the stands alone , but not desiring the complications and stereotypes of a normal marching band , the William and Mary Pep Band sought to join a sacred brotherhood : The Brotherhood of the Scramble Band . So in the Spring of 2006 ( really , the winter , but that ' s what the semester is called ) , a core group of individuals started planning this new chapter of history . It came to fruition in the Fall of 2006 , November 18 to be precise , with the first field show by a William and Mary band in 11 years .