Origins

The Hulk was hit by gamma rays. Wolverine's bones were reinforced with adamantium. Silver Surfer was chosen as that purple dude's scout for planets to eat. The webmaster spent too much time reading comic books. The story of the band's origin is quite similar (and catalogued on Wikipedia, where most of this information comes from! If Wikipedia ran for president, I'd vote for it.) Our Beginnings | The Tree | Dollies | Arthur P. Barnes |

Organized 1891

Well, not exactly. Prior to1963, the Stanford Band was a dedicated, but unspectacular, military band representing Stanford at major athletic events. In 1963, during a reorganization of the Music Department, Band Director Jules Schucat, only a part time instructor at Stanford, was dismissed. Students in the Band were infuriated by the firing of their popular instructor. They protested the action by refusing to perform at the football season opener. In essence, the Band went on strike. The Music Department responded by hiring Dr. Arthur P. Barnes as Director of Bands at Stanford. Dr. Barnes quickly established control of the Band by giving control to the students. The Band was easily won over to the idea of a student run organization, and within two weeks, the LSJUMB was born.

Dendriphile

The Tree is a member of the Leland Stanford Junior [pause] University Marching Band (LSJUMB) and appears at football games, basketball games, and other events where the Band performs. The "Tree" is representative of El Palo Alto (five bucks if you can guess what that means!), the tree that appears on both the official seal of the University and the municipal seal of Palo Alto, Stanford's host city.

From 1930 until 1972, Stanford's sports teams had been known as "the Indians," and, during the period from 1951 to 1972, Prince Lightfoot (portrayed by Timm Williams, a member of the Yurok tribe) was the official mascot. But in 1972, Native American students and staff members successfully lobbied University President Richard Lyman to abolish the "Indian" name along with what they had come to perceive as an offensive and demeaning mascot. Stanford's teams reverted unofficially to the name "Cardinal," the color that had represented the school before 1930.

Over the next nine years, Stanford's students and administrators debated what mascot and team name should replace the Indian. A student poll taken during this period ranked possible mascot names in the following order: 1. The Robber Barons (in a nod to Leland Stanford, the University's founder); 2. The Thunder Chickens; 3. The Cardinal; 4. The Huns; and, far behind, 5. The Griffins. Finally, in 1981, University President Donald Kennedy declared (unsurprisingly, given the other options available amongst the top-polling names) that the team name would officially remain "The Cardinal."

However, in 1975, the Band had performed a series of halftime shows that facetiously suggested several other new mascot candidates it considered particularly appropriate for Stanford, including the Steaming Manhole, the French Fry, and the Tree. The Tree ended up receiving so much positive attention that the Band decided to make it a permanent fixture, and thus began the process through which the Tree has gradually colonized the collective unconscious of Stanford's student body.

During the first decade of its existence, the role of the Tree was generally performed by the Band managers' girlfriends. In the mid-1980's, however, the Band adopted a more formal selection process for its Trees. Today's Tree candidate must go through "grueling physical and mental challenges" to show that he or she has sufficient chutzpah to be the Tree. During "Tree Week," candidates try to woo Stanford students with spectacular stunts.

Dollies

The Dollies, a five-member dance group, and the Stanford Tree, the University's de facto mascot (the de jure mascot is the color cardinal), operate under the band's aegis. The Dollies, who are all female, are a dance group, rather than cheerleaders, per se. They tend to get the attention usually accorded cheerleaders though--more attention even than the official cheerleaders, which are part of the Stanford Athletic Department. Dollie try-outs are held on "Dollie Day," when potential Dollies demonstrate their ability in front of the entire assembled band. Each year's new Dollie cadre is revealed at the annual "Dollie Splash," where the Dollies give their debut dance for the public followed by a dunking in the Stanford Claw. Dollies serve one-year terms, are managed by their Dollie Daddy/Mama (the Band's assistant manager or "ass-man"), and choreograph all their own routines and design their own costumes. Traditional costume colors are red for the fall, cardinal for the winter, and white for the spring.

Barnes!

There's a neat article about Arthur P. "Badass" Barnes over here. You should really read it. It's neat.