Lee C. Bollinger tried to kill the Columbia University Marching Band (CUMB). He took away their funding and got the Athletic Director to bar the students from playing at football games, either on the field or even in the stands. Today, the day before the annual Homecoming football game, when hundreds of alumni come back to Columbia to socialize and cheer on their Lions. Bollinger and the Columbia Administration, barraged by alumni complaints and negative media coverage of the dismantling of the CUMB, took action today to make the Homecoming alumni feel better -- the Band will play fight songs in the alumni tent before the game and will serenade the crowd during the game from the stands, supplemented by alumni musicians who traditionally show up to play along with the students. For Bollinger, the storm will be averted and all the alumni can go home after the event with the impression that the situation has been solved, the band is back, and they can forget about it and go back to giving money to the school.
But there is a dark shadow lurking behind the Band's resurrection. The deal struck between the administration, the student leaders of the Band, and the leaders of the Band Alumni Association, at least as presented in the school's official press release, contains concerning language about how the Athletic Department will have oversight over the Band's performances at athletic events, and the Band members will be subject to the Athletic Department's Code of Conduct. Then, as far as any non-athletic events, the Band will fall under the oversight of the Columbia College administrators, particularly Dean James Valentini, who was one of the officials who acted to evict the Band from it's Orgo Night performances in 2016 and who punished the band members who defied the library ban in 2017. The concern here is that the University has not cleared the Band to resume its normal, zany, activities, but rather has put a noose around the Band's virtual neck and will squeeze the life out of the organization over the next few years by dictating the Band's activities, censoring its performances, and continuing to ban Orgo Night (or severely restrict it and punish any deviation from approved scripts).
It's possible, of course, that Athletic Director Peter Pilling, is acting in good faith and just wants his band back for football and basketball games. Maybe he wants to just provide funding and leave the Band's activities alone. Maybe President Bollinger similarly is ready to wave the white flag and let the Band be the Band again. But, history suggests that when powerful men and powerful organizations are embarrassed, they tend to strike back rather than admit defeat. It would be typical for Bollinger to try to undermine the Band by restoring its funding, but only under draconian conditions. It is also entirely possible that, after the Homecoming game is over, Bollinger, Valentini, and Pilling will decide that there are more "details" about the deal that have not been worked out, and in the end pull back and say, "never mind." This would be the ultimate douche move, but don't think for a minute that it can't happen.
And, before we allow the administration to come out of this looking good because they caved to enormous pressure, let's review a few key points:
1. Bollinger de-funded the Band as retaliation for the Band's actions in 2017 related to the Orgo Night show. The new "deal" says nothing about whether Orgo Night will be permitted under the Athletic Department Code of Conduct, whether the AD will require pre-approval of the script, or whether Valentini will assert jurisdiction over Orgo Night as non-Athletic Dept. event and impose restrictions. In any case, nobody in the administration has said that Orgo Night will be restored to Butler 209. So, while the Band is better off today than two weeks ago, at best the Band is back to where we were a year ago -- still unhappy with the disingenuous actions and statements of Bollinger and Valentini and still waiting for Orgo Night to be restored.
2. Bollinger and Pilling banned the students from performing at the opening home football game, and banned them from playing music in the stands, was based on the stated premise that the Band lost its privilege to perform because it was not a recognized student group registered with the student group oversight board. The Band is still not registered with the board, but it is now allowed to play because it has the permission of the Athletic Department. So, the Athletic Department could have granted that permission all along (as it did for the Staten Island Technical High School Band), and it did not have to de-fund the band because the leaders missed the phantom "deadline" to register with the student board. Conclusion: the putative excuse for banning the band based on the paperwork oversight was (as we knew) bullshit from the beginning. If Bollinger wanted to let the Band play, even without being registered, he could have allowed it. But he wanted to kill the Band, so he did not allow it and hid behind the stupid excuse. The "deal" made today only proves that Bollinger and Pilling were lying to us all about how it was not possible to allow the Band to play. All they needed was permission, and they are getting it now only because of alumni pressure and negative media coverage.
3. The administration is being cute and clever about its press release, not saying anything about Orgo Night and leaving the impression that there will be additional oversight and control over the Band. This is exactly what they wanted, so the administration giving in and making this deal on the eve of Homecoming may not be an indication of reasonable minds coming to their senses as much as Bollinger trying to save his Homecoming from disaster while still achieving his ultimate goal of neutering the Band. We should be wary and make sure that whatever "deal" is ultimately hammered out clearly gives the Band freedom to speak and play as it pleases without censorship from Bollinger, Valentini, or Pilling. When the Band chants its favorite "Lean to the left . . . " cheer, let's hope that Bollinger doesn't threaten to discipline the students and try to tone down the cheers (that's what a First Amendment scholar would do, right?).
4. The fight for Orgo Night is not over. When this December comes around, we will likely find out exactly what Bollinger and Valentini have in mind for the Band. Will they step aside and allow Orgo Night to proceed (even if outside) without interference, or will they crack down and, perhaps slowly, exert control and "supervision" over the band in order to further suppress the Band's speech?
5. What of the "musicians" who populate the Band? The cryptic statements from Low Library include notes about improving the "musicality" of the Band and providing lessons for players. When the band was briefly dead, Bollinger talked about creating a new band, with auditions. Let's hope that the inclusiveness of the CUMB is not destroyed by the administration's edict that if you can't play a traditional instrument well enough to satisfy the musical director, then you can't be part of the group. The all-inclusive group nature of the CUMB is what makes it so great. We can never let that die.
The fight is not over. Don't be fooled by the relief of getting the Band back from the dead. It's still in critical condition. We must remain vigilant.
-- A. Ham.
