What brought you to UW Seattle? Why did you choose this school over other schools?
What hobbies do you pursue in your spare time? Enjoying time with my wife and son!
That?s easy ? the style of the Husky Band! I have always had a deep appreciation for traditional style marching bands, which was why I also chose to go to the colleges that I attended. While teaching high school, I had ?corps style? high school bands because that is basically the predominant style that the high school band adjudicators know how to critique and score so since the late 70s if you wanted your high school band to have any success in competitions, you had to be a corps-style band. So when the Director of Athletic Bands position opened up at the UW just as I was finishing my PhD coursework, knowing that the UW had a traditional style marching band, I jumped at the chance to be the next director! What advice do you have for the rookies for this upcoming season? No matter what the style or culture was of your high school band, embrace all that the HMB has to offer. It will be the ?icing on the cake? to your years here at the U-Dub!
What is something unique about yourself that most students don?t know? As much as I love to eat, there are only 3 foods on the planet that I absolutely detest ? liver, olives and ? guacamole!
What is your least favourite Husky Band trip? Why? The Sun Bowl. 1) Because we?ve gone way too many times and 2) because there is NOTHING sunny about it!
We already asked about the rookies, what advice do you have for veterans/upperclassmen for this upcoming marching season? The relationships you forge in the Husky Band will likely be the relationships you will maintain the rest of your life. Cherish them and nurture them! Gamma is honored to have you as our Chapter Sponsor. What would you like to see change in Gamma? What would you like to see stay the same? Do you have anything you would like to say to people on the fence about joining the Fraternity? You asked earlier what has changed in my position over the last 25 years, the growth and development of Gamma is another facet that has changed and all for the better. The chapter had just reactivated when I arrived at the UW. Given my love for the fraternity, I was thrilled that there was going to be an active chapter once again! During college I was exceedingly involved in the fraternity and had the great pleasure and privilege of getting to know and establish a friendship with KKY founding father, J. Lee Burke. I have frequently told Gamma and potential members that KKY was the ?icing on the cake? in regard to my college band experience, and it truly was. And being given the wonderful opportunity to see Gamma grow through some early ?aches and pains? to a chapter that flourishes and is annually one of the strongest in the nation has been one of my great privileges and pleasures. This is true both as someone who has always staunchly believed in the benefits of what KKY can bring to a college band program but also in regard to being given the opportunity to help guide a fledging reactivated chapter to what it has become today. What would I like to see change? Well, I?d love it if we could sing the chapter hymn without adding a bazillion fermatas!!!! ?