A very big thank-you to everyone who has stepped up to the plate with donations since the administration informed the Marching Band that starting next year it was pulling more than half its operating budget, already lowest in the Ivy League.

Gifts so far have ranged from $25 to four-figure sums. We truly appreciate them all, because each one represents a Columbian who appreciates the Band’s past and believes in its future.

Most exciting, a former Band member has just promised $5,000 for each of the next two years as a one-to-one matching challenge. So if you join our donors, your gift up to that limit will be worth double. We hope you’ll consider joining the drive, either via credit card or PayPal or by mailing a check to the address below.

Don’t forget, we’re a 501(c)(3), and we’ll happily send you a tax letter.

Also, if you work for a company that matches employees’ charitable contributions, please check to see if yours to CUBAA would be eligible. Having your company support the Cleverest Band in the World sounds like a great idea!

And one more thing on the support front: The administration’s recent treatment of the Band–attacking Orgo Night and slashing the budget–has upset some alumni who’ve been intending a place for Columbia in their wills. We know of one alum who canceled a planned gift and another who has told the deans that his substantial bequest, already written, will be eliminated if conflicts between the deans and the Band aren’t resolved.

For more than 100 years, the Marching Band has contributed greatly to the University community. Band alumni are proud to help their successors, but CUBAA believes the group’s regular financial support should come largely from Columbia’s pocket, as it always has, not from alumni. We hope the administration will come to recognize that its harsh treatment is sadly backfiring and damaging relations with both students and alumni.

Facebookers who want to join or observe the conversation on the conflict, and on other Band-related topics, can join our private Facebook group here.

We wish we could report some more peaceful news as the calendar year draws to a close, but we can all find satisfaction in the support you continue to show.

We thought you should be up on this devastating news from campus regarding the Marching Band. The headline is that next year the Band’s budget, already lowest in the Ivy League, will be slashed by 60 percent. This story in the Columbia Spectator explains it pretty well.

We’re going to be doing our best to try to engage the administration to explain to them the error of their ways. They want school spirit? They want a sense of community and support for Lion athletic teams? And they go after the student group that provides all that like no other? Meantime, we’ll be working on ways to keep the Band in business.

I hope you’ll join us in registering your disapproval by reaching out to:

1. the alumni office at 877-854-2586
2. Dean James Valentini (212-854-2443 or jjv1@columbia.edu) and Dean Cristen Kromm (212-854-6806 or ckromm@columbia.edu) .

And as the calendar moves toward Columbia Giving Day on October 24 and year-end charitable donation time, we hope you’ll think of shifting some of what you might donate to Columbia to us instead so we can continue to help the Marching Band and the Wind Ensemble. If you disapprove of the administration’s short-sightedness, a gift to CUBAA would be a good way to show it.

Make a secure donation with your credit card or PayPal account click the “Donate” button.

Keep in touch. Spread the word.