TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Marching 100 band doesn’t just exit the field after halftime at Florida A&M University on Homecoming Day. They “bring it off” in a highly choreographed processional that culminates with each drum major and the entire tuba section jumping into half-splits on the turf.
This performance, like every other, starts and ends under the whistle of the head drum major. And for the first time in the Marching 100’s nearly 80-year history, the whistle was around the neck of a woman who had spent weeks perfecting her solo.
With thousands of eyes fixed on her, she swung the orange and green cape of her uniform. Moments later, she bent her knee in a quiet tribute to her family, sprinted down the field and leaped into the air…