What would a football game be without the band? No fight song. No alma mater. And no halftime show. The band adds spirit to Colonels’ football games, but they do a lot more. The music department actually has several bands that play at different events throughout the school year.

“The band department has the symphonic band, the marching band, the jazz band and a band that plays at basketball games,” Eric Gueniot, instructor of music and assistant director of bands, said.

Gueniot said that being in band, to his students, is more than just playing an instrument. It is a way of life.

“They have been doing this for years,” Gueniot said. “It is part of who they are. You can’t just go to college and quit doing it. It is a part of their life just like a sports team or fraternity.”

Ryan Lottinger, music senior from Bourg, is a member of the marching band, symphonic band, jazz band and the saxophone quartet, but he said his favorite is jazz band.

“It is just more my style,” Lottinger said. “We play from old big band stuff to funk.”

Ashlee Hernandez, music education senior from Houma, said she prefers marching band because of the friendships she has made there.

“We are all such close friends,” Hernandez said. “Being in band really teaches you how to get along with people and have fun while you do it.”

Like everything else in Louisiana, the marching band was affected by the recent storms.

“It changed the number of kids in the band,” Gueniot said. “We gained and lost some students. It fluctuated every week.”

The band changes its halftime show several times throughout the semester.

The band never got a chance to perform the first show it had prepared because of game cancellations and the loss of students due to both Katrina and Rita.

“That has never happened at all in the years I have been here,” Gueniot said. “We thought about bringing it back, but we couldn’t because the personnel had changed.”