Virginia Pep Band - History

History

The earliest appearance of the organization which became the Virginia Pep Band was in 1909, when the East Lawn Chowder Society appeared in the University of Virginia yearbook, Corks and Curls. The East Lawn Chowder Society was a secret society that engaged in general tomfoolery, often involving their rivals, the West Lawn Chowder Society. Later, the East Lawn Society formed a band, which evolved over time into the current Pep Band. The style and appearance of the organization has changed over time; at some point it even performed a traditional marching band style as the University of Virginia Marching Band (this is why both "award-winning" and "marching" appear in the band's name). In the fall of 1974, the band adopted the Ivy League scramble band style, beginning the modern era of the band. In the early scramble-band seasons, the band did, in fact, march for the opening and closing numbers - in more-or-less straight lines. Marching was later abandoned entirely. The one thing common to all of the current Pep Band's predecessors was student governance - complete control by its members rather than University faculty.