Generous Gifts
The Michigan Tech Huskies Pep Band represents an athletic tradition unlike any other.
From its humble beginnings in 1928 as the Michigan Tech ROTC Band under the baton of E. E. Melville, the Michigan Tech Huskies Pep Band has grown to become one of the most recognized bands in all of college hockey. Everyday more and more people are discovering the excellence that is The Huskies Pep Band. The band has served as the host band to the WCHA Final Five Hockey Tournament in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. A simple Google search for pep band yields over 920,000 results and The Michigan Tech Huskies Pep Band is consistently at the top of the list. Over 250 strong, the band is a quintessential part of the Michigan Tech experience. Members represent nearly every academic unit on campus. The band provides an environment that fosters teamwork, time-management, interpersonal skills, leadership, and creativity that supplement those taught in the traditional academic classroom.
Our greatest opportunities to invest in The Huskies Pep Band are listed below.
Ways to Give to the Huskies Pep Band
The Huskies Pep Band Traveling Road Show Fund
Stripes on the road. Playoff games. Bringing Husky Cheer.
Every year, the Huskies Pep Band performs at over sixty local events, all of them made possible by our more than 300 volunteer student members. Aside from these local events, our band also gets the chance to take road trips to support our Husky athletic teams when they travel. These events, though less numerous, take much more effort to carry out. Students volunteer their entire weekends (maybe even part of an academic break), and sometimes have to spend some of their own finances in order to go on these roadshows. There are also instrument/equipment repairs and purchases, transportation, housing arrangements, and music distribution to worry about, all of which factor into these road trips. All of these require funding, and sometimes the band isn't able to go on a roadshow and support our fellow Huskies due to a lack of funds.
By donating to the Huskies Pep Band Traveling Road Show Fund, you'll be joining Doug and Mary Lindgren and their generous contribution to our band and its students, improving our abilities and opportunities to spread our Huskies Pep Band cheer.
Estate Planning
Leave a legacy by including The Huskies Pep Band in your estate plan. Contact the Office of Gift Planning (906-487-3325 or giftplan@mtu.edu) for more information.
What your Donation Can Do
Feed the Band!
The band is comprised of college humans that depend on food to survive. When we are able to, we travel to away playoff games and are responsible for paying for our meals individually. If you would like to donate to the Huskies Pep Band specifically to feed the band, contact our Treasurer, Ziggy Walker (mcwalker@mtu.edu), and he will give you further instructions!
Instruments
Instruments are the life-blood of The Huskies Pep Band; we can’t exist without them. The Huskies Pep Band supplies many of the instruments used by our members to ensure a uniform appearance and sound for the band. The instruments owned by the band are among the finest available, but after many years of service, they are in need of replacement. The process of replacing instruments one section at a time is a never-ending process, and there is always a critical need of funds for this purpose.
Consider sponsoring an instrument. Your tax-deductible donation will fund the purchase of a new instrument for the band. The instrument’s case will have a brass plate attached with your name engraved for the life of the instrument. Parents or family members can purchase an instrument, which can be used by their son or daughter during the years they play in the Band.
Alternatively, consider endowing an instrument, which would provide the band with this instrument forever. The goal of the capital campaign is to build the endowment that will provide financial sustainability forever. Each instrument purchased under this endowment will be engraved with your name.
Here is what new instruments typically cost the Huskies Pep Band:
Instrument Cost Amount needed to endow instrument
Baritone Saxiphone $4,000 $80,000
Mellophone $1,000 $20,000
Baritone $1,300 $26,000
Sousaphone $6,500 $130,000
Snare Drum $750 $15,000
Tenor Drums $1,200 $24,000
Bass Drum $550 $11,000
The listing above provides suggestions for supporting the Pep Band. If you would like to explore additional opportunities such as sponsoring a Huskies Pep Band show at an athletic event, please don’t hesitate to contact Mike Christianson for more information.
Scholarships
The students are the strength of the program – without them, there would be no band. They are the spirit that cheers the Huskies to victory. Pep Band members will give over 200 hours of service during football, hockey, and basketball seasons – in addition to their academic schedule! This makes it extremely difficult to work part-time jobs to help pay for their education. Scholarship support for our students is one of our highest priorities. An endowment of $10,000 will provide one student annually with a $500 scholarship to recognize excellence in musical contribution to Michigan Tech.