by Liam Tonchev
The College of Wooster Pipe Band has been a staple of campus activities and events since its inception in the 1940s. Members perform at many on-campus events, like March Through the Arch, Convocation, Commencement, football games and the I.S. Monday parade. We are a special ensemble on campus, providing the College of Wooster with a direct tie to its Scottish heritage. I started playing bagpipes in 2011 and have played with a number of different groups. The College of Wooster Pipe Band is the most interesting and the most dysfunctional one I have been with.
When I first joined the pipe band two years ago, there were nine pipers and one drummer. Now, there are four pipers and three drummers. In my time here, there have been no new pipers, and I am a junior. If this trend continues for two more years, there will be no pipers left on campus. This is similar to what happened with highland dance on campus. There were one or two remaining dancers before the program became defunct in 2021. Many individuals in the music and marketing departments are aware of the pipe band’s dwindling numbers, but it never seems to occur to anyone to ask why this is.
As someone who partakes in the dying art, I asked why. I was confused because, having connections to other college pipe bands, I know not all Scottish arts programs are experiencing the same problem. I began to look for inconsistencies in the programs and what I first noticed is a difference in scholarships offered. It seems to be widely believed that bagpipers here receive a full scholarship from the College of Wooster; that is not true. A highland arts scholarship matches that of any other music scholarship offered by the school, ranging between $2,000 and $8,000 a year. Another school I applied to offered me more than twice what I was offered here to participate in their Scottish arts program. The scholarship figure at Wooster has not changed in more than 20 years, which is ridiculous. I am only here because the other school was too close to my hometown, and I didn’t want my relatives to come find me.
Aside from this, the current members struggle with access to practice space. In 2009, the pipe band was barred from rehearsing in the Scheide Music Center for being too loud, and was relocated to Frye House. Pipers do not reside in the house; it is strictly a space used for practice. We appreciate Frye House, as it is a place we can call our own; however, we have limited access to the building and this has been an issue. Other music students have 24-hour access to the Scheide practice rooms; we can only access Frye House between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. I recall many an early morning or late evening where the pipe band needed to access Frye House and had to phone Campus Safety, requesting to be let into the building. It is not good for pipers when they realize their bagpipes are on the other side of a locked door.
As if separation anxiety isn’t enough, Frye House is ill-equipped to handle many pipe band functions. I worked and resided on campus this past summer and practiced in Frye House, daily. I would glance at the thermostat on the wall, which most often read 91℉, and wonder why the College hasn’t provided us with an air conditioning unit. Frye House lives up to its name — it fries. The summer heat has ruined drum heads and affects our tuning and our stamina. Another utility the College has neglected to provide us with is WiFi, making it unreasonably difficult to communicate with the music department and all other campus offices with whom we cooperate.
Being in The College of Wooster Pipe Band is not easy because, basically, we are constantly in a rage, thinking about how much we are used for marketing and publicity and what little accommodations we are given to improve our skills. Allowing the pipe band to run out of members and failing to provide the remaining members with adequate resources is a disgrace to this college.
