Where It All Began. . .
Did you know that Creighton has not always had a Pep Band? As a matter of fact, the university used to hire the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s (UNO) Pep Band or other local high school pep bands to play at our athletic events. But in 1994, Andrea (Deitchler) Zielstra, an ambitious senior, established the all-volunteer Creighton University Pep Band. Naturally, the band was originally run under the auspices of the music department. Dr. John C. Cernech, the Vice President of Student Services, generously allocated funds for the purchase of a few school instruments. After graduating in 1995, Andrea took over as moderator of the band. Through her position in the University's Purchasing Department, Andrea was able to provide the band with a location to practice and store its instruments. Although the compact, and often cold, practice space on the loading dock of the old purchasing building was anything but ideal, it was a start, and a challenge the band embraced.
In the fall of 2004, Mike West, Director of Marketing for Creighton Athletics, took over as our moderator. With this connection to the Athletics Department, the band was able to move to a new practice location in the Kitty Gaughan Baseball Pavilion, east of 24th Street. This location provided a much larger area for practicing and storage, as well as better acoustics. Thanks to new direction and its improved location, the band became more aggressive in recruiting, and teamed up with the Admissions Office to identify prospective new members, based on application information. Through Athletics, the band is also provided with food at every game, as well as a van to transport instruments between its storage space and athletic events.
In Autumn 2008, the band moved yet again, this time to the brand-new Mike and Josie Harper Center. Practicing weekly in the state-of-the-art auditorium, the Pep Band also took up residence in a spacious storage room, which not only holds instruments but also functions as a makeshift office and headquarters--a sort of secretive underground lair, if you will.
With unprecedented leadership and dedication, the Creighton Pep Band continues to reach new heights. Membership has increased from ten original volunteers to nearly 70 members. We have also expanded our repertoire to include over 100 songs, and drastically improved our sound quality.
Connie Aliano, who books our practices in the Harper Center Auditorium, attests:
I think the pep band plays such a vital part of the whole collegiate basketball experience ... Oh my gosh, if you only knew how quiet and boring games were before the infusion of the band sound. The band brings such an element of life and energy to the games that can’t be generated by any other means.
We are ready to advance and improve until we are the best Pep Band in the NCAA. With a clear vision for the future, we are poised to continue our ascent from a small, ragtag crew of dedicated volunteers, to become one of the powerhouses in collegiate band. Most importantly, we will never stop cheering for the Jays!
Go Bluejays!