New band director marches tradition back to Eastside High

Editor’s note: Former WUFT reporter Katie Hyson produced this story in partnership with Report for America as a follow-up to her award-winning 2022 history of Eastside High School’s band. Hyson now reports for KBPS in San Diego.

At the Ram Band’s half-time show Friday night, Eastside High School students will dance a half-century of history back onto the field.

The new band director, Chip Powell, is bringing back a marching style common to historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). That style was the pride of Gainesville’s east side since the days of the all-Black Lincoln High School, which was shut down after the 1970 federal enforcement of desegregation…

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