Aug. 20, 2025

Back in step: Ferris State marching band returns with a bang Aug. 28 after decades away

No one can blame Daniel Atwood for overflowing enthusiasm as Ferris State University prepares for the return of a marching band to campus.  

Atwood, an assistant professor of Humanities and director of Athletic Bands at Ferris State, is excited but also knows that the newly formed, 77-member marching band has a lot of work to do between now and the group’s first public performance on Thursday, Aug. 28, the 2025 season and home opener at Top Taggart Field, 1215 Campus Drive in Big Rapids, for the Ferris State football team, the reigning NCAA Division II National Champions.  

“That it’s coming up fast is a scary part but being a part of something so historic and meaningful is exciting for all of us,” Atwood said. “There’s a lot of work that is being done behind the scenes when you talk about getting instruments ordered, uniforms ordered, policies, and expectations. There are a lot of structural pieces that go into beginning a marching band that need to be in place.”  

The Ferris State marching band started in 1955 and performed for decades, including at President Richard M. Nixon’s second inauguration parade in 1973. Waning interest and downsizing led to the band being discontinued in the mid-1990s. The band returns after more than a year of planning and fundraising.  

 

 

Atwood said there is considerable interest. He set a goal of recruiting 55 band members – only to get that and 22 more.  
“It's just unreal, you know, it's just great to finally see that coming together,” he said. “It’s especially exciting because it’s already bigger than what we thought it was going to be – bigger than we planned. That’s a great thing. It’s extremely exciting.”  

Kyren Passenier, a junior and drum major for the marching band, is already confident the group’s debut is going to be a highlight of his college career.  

“Honestly, it's probably the most exciting thing I've done since I started here at Ferris State. I’m really happy to have such a big part of what the band is and will become,” said Passenier, a Ravenna native and Secondary English Education major who plays the trumpet. “It gives me chills just thinking about what it’s going to be like on Aug. 28.”  

Witnessing the band’s early growth has participants thinking the sky is the limit for the program’s potential, said Midland native Matthew McConnell, the band’s commanding officer.  

“We had a massive jump in people joining,” said McConnell, a Pre-Veterinary Science major who plays the mellophone. “It’s amazing looking around and having all these friends and teammates who are all excited with what we are doing and what we’re going to do.”  

McConnell believes the marching band will enhance the great things already taking place at Ferris State.

“Ferris State is already known for having really good sports programs. So, we know there’s already a lot of energy,” he said. “We’re excited about how the marching band is going to add to that energy and help get everyone hyped up even more.”  

Atwood sees an additional, if less obvious, bonus of a marching band: band parents.  

“Band parents can be die-hard, you know, they will show up,” he said. “I've already received emails and text messages from parents saying, ‘We got our season tickets to the football games.’ As a high school band parent, they’re doing a lot. This is their opportunity to just kind of sit back, relax and enjoy their student being part of a collegiate marching band.”  

Atwood and a staff that includes Micah Laird, the assistant director of the marching band and conductor of the concert and jazz bands, are continuing extensive behind-the-scenes work. They inventoried what was available to them from past bands, while borrowing and purchasing new equipment, to have this new iteration of the marching band ready for the 2025-26 academic year.  

In the Music Center, they had a substantial amount of older equipment, but having a budget has allowed the marching band to begin pursuing all-new silver bass instruments and a new silver chrome saxophone line – for starters.  

Recruiting, including more than 30 first-year students, has been a big part of their efforts with band members from “as far away as Alabama and as close as Big Rapids,” Atwood said.  

Faith Jones, a sophomore from Whitehall majoring in Pre-Pharmacy, was enticed to come to Ferris State in part for the band opportunity.  

“I did marching band all throughout high school,” said Jones, who plays the piccolo and is a section leader for the flutes. “Last year, I joined the pep band because I knew our marching band was coming back when I was actually touring Ferris State as a senior in high school.”  

Jones sees the expansion of opportunities, particularly for local and regional high school students who participate in bands.  

“It is so exciting to have another opportunity, another musical outlet. A part of me was afraid at one point of what would happen to music for me after high school,” she said. “I’ve been able to keep my love for music going. Here, I have learned new instruments. I've learned to play the saxophone. I'm now on the Piccolo, which I barely knew how to play during my senior year of high school. I love Ferris. I love being here.”  

Jones added, “We have a saying here in the Ferris music community, ‘Music for Life.’ Even though we don’t have a music major, we’re all continuing our careers and enjoying music, which brings so much joy.”  

Marching band members look forward to putting on the uniforms for real on Thursday, Aug. 28, when the preseason nationally top-ranked Bulldog Football Team hosts ninth-ranked Pittsburg State University from Kansas with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m.  

“I hope it gives the crowd chills as much as it will me and the other members of the band,” Passenier said. “There are almost no words to describe how exciting it is to be bringing marching band back, how excited I am, and how happy I am going to be to see our team doing so well out here because. Even though we're called a marching band, we're still a team like any other sports team here on campus.”  

The team concept is not lost on Atwood either. “One of the most rewarding aspects of this experience is watching these students come together and create an incredible marching band culture.  They have been working together from 9 a.m. until about 8 p.m. every day for two straight weeks.  They are out in the heat, the sun and the humidity and so the success of this program belongs to them.  I couldn’t ask for a better group of students to work with.” 
Atwood is thankful for the support the marching band has received from Ferris State President Bill Pink and others.

Atwood applauded Pink’s ability to see the full scope of what a marching band can bring to campus and beyond. Atwood noted that the marching band, among other opportunities, will be performing at LMCU Park in Comstock Park as the West Michigan Whitecaps close their season on Sept. 7.  

Those opportunities and more will be available thanks to supporters like Pink.

“Well, obviously, we never could have done it without his support,” Atwood said. “From the very beginning, the day I started here two years ago, he has been a huge advocate of what the program is going to bring across campus – not just with Athletics and the football game day experience. For our band students alone, having this opportunity to participate in an organization like this on our campus is going to mean building friendships and relationships that will last the rest of their lives.”