Death of The Peppas:

ZACH JOACHIM Sports Editor

In 2016, the Washington Post published an article titled “VCU pep band could be a lot less spicy next season after director steps down.” Nearly two years later, that prediction could not have been more spot on, according to current and former band members.

Interviews with three former and one current Peppa and two members of VCU Athletics administration illustrated an environment wrought with emotional turmoil and unresolved grievances.

“We are complete garbage,” said Nick Rivera, a senior and four-year Peppas member. “We are not even a shadow of what we used to be.”

Former director Ryan Kopacsi led The Peppas for 18 years before departing in the spring of 2016, after he and the university were unable to agree on a new contract. But both the band members and VCU Athletics say there is much more to the last two tumultuous years than the difference between Kopacsi and current director Duane Coston.

Assistant Athletic Director Vaughn Moss admitted the transition has been far from smooth, but insisted students and administration are on the same page.

“We had a very public and not so nice transition to the band director. We are proud to talk about how big and important the band is in the grand scheme of things,” Moss said. “When things are not going well, people are always trying to find something to blame it on. We all have the same goal — to provide a great atmosphere for our studentathletes and fans.”

According to Rivera and former Peppa members Jordan Davis, Samantha Silva and Will Anderson, this “atmosphere” has drastically changed over the last two years. Davis, Silva and Anderson have all quit or been “pushed out” of the band since Coston was hired. Despite multiple meetings with administrators, Davis said her complaints of a degrading atmosphere under Coston went largely by the wayside.

“Duane was trying to make us this standard band in a box, which is not what we are at all. That’s one of the reasons I left,” Davis said. “I didn’t come here to be a band in a box, I joined it because it’s outlandish and ridiculous. I wanted to be a Peppa, and everything being a Peppa meant. He stripped all that away. I understand things change, but it didn’t feel like Duane was trying to elevate the band.”

Rivera stressed that Coston’s energy levels are far from the only factor pulling the Peppas down.

Rather, an overall loss of spirit, community and collective empathy have resulted in a disingenuous atmosphere devoid of “pep,” he said. Silva and Anderson echoed Rivera’s depiction of a band that may have lost its longtime director but, more importantly, lost its highly touted spirit.

“A lot of us would love to have Ryan back, but at the beginning my problem was Duane just didn’t give the band his all,” Silva said.

“He would always try and trash Ryan’s old ways whenever we complained about anything he or athletics was doing. We tried to say it wasn’t about that, but he’d always bring it up.”

“It’s not about Duane, it’s about the passion, it’s about the feeling, it’s about the rush, it’s about the jumping, it’s about the screaming,” Anderson said. “It’s about actually caring until your face turns red with excitement — it’s about the sweating. It has nothing to do with the fact that Duane isn’t a good person — Ryan wasn’t a perfect person. But he cared. If Duane had cared about the band, I would have kept going, no matter what. But he didn’t care.”