Lafayette bars Band's halftime act

The Penn Band did not get to perform its usual halftime antics during Penn's 28-8 football win over Lafayette this weekend in Easton, Pa. Minutes before members of the band were scheduled to take the field, they were told by Lafayette University Athletic Director Eve Atkinson that their script was not appropriate and could not be performed. The band was forced to abandon its plans and instead play four Penn songs while standing in the shape of a "P". The miscommunication between Penn and Lafayette began earlier in the week. According to Atkinson, the Lafayette athletic department was informed that the band would not be attending the game so it proceeded to make other halftime arrangements. When the band informed the department that it would in fact be performing a halftime show, Lafayette compromised by allowing the band to perform for five minutes during the pregame show, said College junior Kushol Gupta, the band's drum major. But when the band arrived at the stadium, Wharton senior Jim Maceiko -- the voice of the Penn Band -- said he was told he could not announce the script and that a Lafayette announcer would do it instead. According to band director Greer Cheeseman, Lafayette Associate Athletic Director Bruce McCutcheon approved the script and agreed to let Maceiko announce it as long as the Lafayette announcer could monitor him to make sure he did not deviate from the script. But when Maceiko went to the press box, he was met by Atkinson who told him the script was unacceptable, Maceiko said. "We had asked them to fax us a copy of their script and the one we got said that they would be playing two Penn songs for the pregame show," Atkinson said. "On the day of the game, they had a completely different script and were, in essence, trying to pull a quick one." According to Atkinson, the script had been approved by neither the Lafayette athletic department nor Penn's athletic department and when she asked Maceiko if Penn had approved it she received no answer. But the script had been approved by the Band Policy Committee during the week, said Carolyn Schlie Femovich, Penn's senior associate athletic director. "When [Atkinson] asked me, I distinctly said, 'yes this is approved,' " Maceiko said. After consulting with McCutcheon, Atkinson made her decision and Maceiko went down to the field to inform the band. Although Femovich did not attend the game, she said it was unfortunate that there was confusion and miscommunication. "We have to honor the wishes of the host institution in this type of situation," Femovich said. Band members said they were frustrated by the day's events. "It's really annoying when you get 55 people together between 10 and midnight on a Wednesday to practice and then to be told that you won't be able to perform," said Penn Band President and College senior Jason Pollack. Many negative feelings remain among band members, Gupta added. "We'll go anywhere to support the team but I personally wish that it was under less frustrating circumstances," he said. "We're putting it behind us, but the ordeal was not greatly appreciated."

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