Evaluating as a student

STEGEMAN COLISEUM -- I realize that Student Evaluations are just a way to make students feel like their opinion has some value, but here’s my evaluation (as turned in) regarding the RCB director...


To whom it may concern,

I am writing as third year student at the Univer$ity of G-orgia and as a third year member of the R-dcoat B-nd. I want to be tasteful, respectful, and constructive, while at the same time being strong and utterly critical. I honestly thought that the leadership was the main thing that kept the 101st edition of the band from being the best. We were so close. Don’t get me wrong, this was still a good year. But that can be attributed to the character of the people in the organization and the success of the football team, not the leadership. There were times when I felt like we didn’t have a ‘plan of attack’ for rehearsals. Most weeks I, as a section leader, didn’t know what to expect upon my arrival at rehearsal. Communication is the name of the game and it was sketchy at best and downright shoddy at times. I think if I could suggest one thing, it would be a weekly newsletter to the leadership that at least clues everyone in on what the goals for the week are and what we intend to march on Saturday. I can do my job better if I know what we are trying to accomplish. I need the support of my superiors, not to be fussed at constantly or worse yet, uninformed regarding their opinions.

I think that rehearsals were poorly run, especially late in the season. Running a show set to set is a great way to learn that show. At band camp and whenever we introduce a new show, we should defiantly run it page by page to get it in our feet. Running a show set to set the night before a game is a waste of everyone’s time. The R-dcoat B-nd ran show three set to set on the Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning rehearsals the week of the SEC Champion$hip. I looked the other way on Wednesday. I bit my tongue on Thursday. But how do I defend the leadership’s decision to run a rehearsal the day before the biggest game of the year in such a manner. The answer, in short, is that I cannot. It is hard to maintain discipline on the field when that is how rehearsals go. If nothing else, give the band an opportunity at the beginning of rehearsal to run the show down so we can see where we are. If it is good, then we know that have rehearsed that enough and can move on. If not, then we know what we need to fix as we go set to set. Rehearsing just for the sake of rehearsing is a great way to kill any and all momentum that an organization may have accrued. The members of the Redcoat Band are very intelligent. We know when we are wasting time and there were several rehearsals this season when it was abundantly clear to everyone on the field and nobody on the tower that we were wasting time. The flagline and drumline can’t learn their music and routines without multiple runs. The band losses the ability to fix on the fly and dress forms when the only way they rehearse is set by set and perhaps once through the whole thing prior to a performance. Give us a chance to fix a form as the accomplished musicians and marchers that we are. This situation must be addressed prior to next season.

I implore the band leadership, especially at the very top, to address the way in which they present themselves socially. I was asked as a section leader at the very beginning of the year to be sure that “I welcomed, and that my section welcomed the rookie class with open arms and a helpful and friendly spirit”. I feel that I accomplished this goal to the best of my ability. I can say with no reservation that the leader of the R-dcoat B-nd did not do this. On one occasion, he lambasted a freshman mellophone for missing horns-down in a Pregame rehearsal in front of the entire ensemble. He singled out the individual, and then proceeded to threaten his status in the band, embarrass, and yell at him. On another occasion, he yelled at a freshman sousaphone player for talking in a tunnel beneath the Georgia Dome when the individual had not heard that we needed to remain quiet because of the Sousas location in the stands. When informed of his mistake, he shook it off and made no attempt at retribution. These are a just a few of countless instances when I felt like our director was out of line and showed utter immaturity and a lack of leadership skills. He is not approachable by anyone on staff or on leadership. If I am supposed to welcome freshmen and returning members as a section leader, then I expect my superiors to lead by example and do the same. I think that college students respond to positive attitudes. Speaking to someone only when they are wrong is not the way to show a positive attitude.

I plan to return to the R-dcoat B-nd next fall out of my sheer love of the band, the football team and the Univer$ity of G-orgia as a whole, but some changes must be made. I fell that we can no longer assert ourselves as the ‘finest in the land’ and this disturbs me greatly. I feel that it has very little to do with the members of the organization. Success and failure both start at the top. The band was successful this year, but we failed at the top. I hope that the concerns that I have spelled out as well as those that others will surely spell out will be addressed before our failure at the top trickles down and causes the entire organization to fail. I care a great deal about the band, its proud tradition, and its exciting future and only want what is best for it.

Thank you for your time,
Matthew Ph-ll-ps