Band

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A Brief History of the University Band

By Beth Stevens

In October of 1931, the Student Council at George Washington University decided to organize a student band. Ted Rinehart, a GW student and a member of the student council, chaired the committee which undertook the task of forming a marching band from scratch in time to play at least one game during the football season that fall. Reaction on campus was overwhelmingly supportive, and by the first rehearsal on October 29, thirty-five men had signed up. Today the GW Pep Band plays for both Men's and Women's Basketball games, continuing a long tradition of support and enjoyment.

The first director of the University Band was Louis Malkus, a graduate of Oklahoma State University. As the University Hatchet reported, “Malkus was student director of the Oklahoma State band for four years, and was a student for his master’s degree at the Institute of Musical Art and Columbia University...he returned to Oklahoma State as instructor of the military band at that institution.”

The original members of the band were: B.C. Anderson, David Amato, John Asher, Clifford Brinkman, Edgar J. Brower, R.B. Butts, G.C Carlson, Henry Davis, George Davis, M.R. Deutsch, J. Burke Drury, David Flax, Vernon L. Goodrich, Kinzie Gibbs, L. F. Hawkins, R.F. Haupt, D.L. Haycock, Harold Hickman, Fladenfo Irreverre, Paul Jacobsen, D.A. Jessup, John Kangas, G.W. Kefauver, G. Kellogg, T.S. O’Connell, William Magruder, L.H. Mumford, Eugene Martin, K.K. Nelson, Robert Reynolds, Bernard Schrek, Kenneth Smith, Clarence Small, Clarence Steelman, and H.G. Stepler.

The band’s first appearance occurred at a pep rally on November 19 which preceded “a stag dance for the benefit of the band to which admission was fifty cents for men and twenty-five cents for women. Since the University did not officially sponsor the band, the University community contributed to the band, according to the University Hatchet, was “Pi Beta, closely followed by Sigma Kappa.” Then-University President Cloyd Heck Marvin “added his financial support,” and many students who had pledged money to the construction of a new student union building transferred their pledges to the band.

On Thanksgiving Day, the band made its first appearance in its new uniforms at the North Dakota football game. Uniforms consisted of colonial-style long blue double-breasted overcoats, wide buff colored leather belts, a reversible cape in buff and blue, and tall blue hats with blue visors and buff pom poms. Forty- three band members marched at the game, playing such songs as “The Gridiron King,” “Under the Double Eagle,” “National Emblem March,” “El Capitan,” and of course “Buff and Blue.” Their picture appeared in the next issue of the Hatchet, along with a glowing review.

The band’s numbers during its second year swelled to sixty-five as the band began to appear at more and more events. On March 4, 1933, the band performed in the Inaugural Parade, it was the only college band not affiliated with a ROTC group to march in the parade. In October of 1932, Director Malkus announced the formation of a concert orchestra as well. By the end of the 1933-1934 school year, the band had become well- known throughout the city. The band held its first banquet to honor its members on March 19, 1934. In attendance were the Secretary of War, George H. Dern, and Lt. Charles Benter, director of the Navy Band, as well as several members of the University administration. To pay the growing expenses of the growing band, the Student Council began the tradition of a Spring Carnival Known as the University Fiesta in May of 1934, the proceeds of which bought new instruments and paid the salary of Director Malkus.

Support for the concert orchestra had never been as great as the support for the pep band, so November of 1934, Director Malkus and the officers voted to disband the concert orchestra. This led to widespread support on campus by the spring of 1935 for the pep band to organize a concert band. Plans to do so were postponed by the injury of director Malkus when he slipped on some ice and fractured his leg in early February, but following the close of football season in December of 1935, Malkus formed a concert band which performed during the spring.

In 1936, Malkus was replaced by Leon Brusiloff, former director of the band of the Fifth Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. During his first months as director, Brusiloff doubled the size of the band from 40 members to more than 80 and created a swing band which played at basketball games and dances. In addition to his duties as director, Brusiloff also earned nationwide fame for his arrangements of swing tunes for pep bands. Brusiloff remained conductor until 1951.

1940 brought an enormous change in the make-up of the Band when four women were admitted as members. They were: Jewell Hendricks, clarinet; Alberta Moore, trombone; Betty Willison, clarinet; and Patricia Wilson, glockenspiel. The first female band president, Marcia Crocker, was elected in 1941.

Unfortunately, by 1950 the enthusiasm of the band had waned. In October of 1950, the Hatchet carried a headline which read, “GW Band Dying of Apathy,” and the band entirely died out in 1951. In the fall of 1953, the band was reformed, mostly due to the efforts of Doris Severe Bruffey, the president. However, by April of 1957, the band decided to once again disband itself, according to the Hatchet, due to a “lack of interest in a University pep band by both the student body and the administration.” After another rebirth in the fall of 1957 under the leadership of director Dick Sillis, a student in the school of Pharmacy, the band completely disappeared from view in 1963.

By 1988, a small group of students had organized into a small pep band that played at basketball games. The band was not supported by the administration or the music department. During the 1988-1989 school year, support for a University sponsored pep band increased. The band became a part of the Music Department under the leadership of Prof. Patrick Jones. He was succeeded in 1990 by Prof. Ben Fritz.

Famous Names in GW Band History

Ted Rinehart, Father of the GW Band

The man most responsible for the founding of a band at GW in the 1930's was Ted Rinehart. A law student and long-time member of the Student Council, Rinehart headed the committee which oversaw the development of the band program. Rinehart was highly involved; in several campus groups and was instrumental in the development of the University Carnival and Homecoming Day. After receiving his law degree in 1932, Rinehart briefly worked in the office of the University President, earning the nickname on campus of “The Mayor.” He left the University in February of 1993 to practice law in Oklahoma.

Louis Malkus, First Director of the GW Band

Louis Malkus, the first director of the band came to GW in 1931 and with the help of Ted Rinehart and the Student Council, founded a marching band literally from scratch. Malkus was a student director at Oklahoma A & M University for four years and earned his Master’s degree from Columbia University. Not only did Malkus found the marching band, but he also founded a short-lived concert orchestra in 1932 and a more successful concert band in 1935. Malkus was director until the spring of 1936.

Austin Roe, The First of the Great Band Presidents

Austin Roe, was secretary-treasurer of the band from 1934-1935, and was president of the band and of the Alpha Kappa chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi from 1935-36. Roe was the chair of the second Band Banquet committee in 1935 and was primarily responsible for its outstanding guest list, which included composer Peter Buys and Captain Taylor Branson of the U.S. Marine Band. In addition, Roe was awarded the Director’s Cup, given by director Malkus to the most outstanding member of the band, at the 1935 Band Banquet.

Leon Brusiloff, The Man Who Made the Band Great

The second director of the University Band was Leon Brusiloff, a former conductor for the Fifth Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Band. Brusiloff arrived at GW in the fall of 1936 and remained until the band’s demise in 1951. During his first year as director, the band doubled in size from approximately 40 to more than 80. Brusiloff was inducted as an honorary member of Alpha Kappa chapter of Kappa Kappa Psi on November 23, 1936. His innovations included a swing band which performed at its first dance in April 1937.

Doris Severe Bruffey, Founder of the Early 50's Band

After the band entirely disappeared from existence in 1951, Doris Severe Bruffey was responsible for its rebirth in 1953. She was president of the band during the 1953-1954 school year and instrumental in keeping it active on campus.

Dick Willis, Founder of the Late 50's Band

Dick Willis was the man primarily responsible for the rebirth of the band in 1958 after it disbanded itself in 1957. Willis was its director from 1958- 1960, and led the band during football games pep rallies. In addition, Willis was responsible for securing new, more modern uniforms for the band during the fall of 1959, which added much prestige to the band on campus.

Document Information

Images: 0
Photographic Credit: n/a
Author or Source: Beth Stevens; The Cherry Tree, 1930s, 1990s; GW Hatchet
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 21, 2006
Prepared by: G. David Anderson, University Archivist and Historian and Lyle Slovick, Assistant University Archivist

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