Have you ever been to a Union hockey game and suddenly heard the tunes of “Sweet Caroline” or “Seven Nation Army” coming from the stands? That is all thanks to Union College’s pep band, the Nott Noisemakers. This band is composed of students from a variety of majors who are brought together by their passion of playing music. The Nott Noisemakers perform fun and recognizable songs that most students and spectators can sing along and dance to, adding liveliness to the atmosphere of Union’s sports games. However, over the past year, the pep band has gone through some changes in terms of its leadership and the management.
After the end of the previous academic year at Union, the condition of the pep band was not stable. The band had no prospective leaders for this year and was on the verge of going into a hiatus. However, when all hope was lost, one student took initiative. “I didn’t want to see the pep band die out,” said Eden Melinger ’27, the current leader of the Nott Noisemakers, “since no one had taken over after last spring, the pep band was without any official leadership. I found out from one of our former presidents that no one had volunteered in late August, so I decided to take on the role before school started!”
In addition to being run by new and enthusiastic student leadership, the band has improved in other ways. The Nott Noisemakers have been working with a club coach in order to widen their selection of songs that they can play, and have also obtained new equipment including microphones, amps and new instruments, bringing more variety and enthusiasm to the games. They are also working to improve communication between the club members.
Students actively involved with the club love to devote their time to it. Caleb Kirshenbaum ’29 described their experience as “so far so good, but we could definitely use more people. It’s been hard to play at a lot of games because we just don’t have enough members. Other than that, I’ve really liked it. The atmosphere is nice, everyone’s friendly, and it’s not too big of a time commitment.”
With the help of more members, the Nott Noisemakers could fully reestablish their fame as the power-packed pep band of Union College. If you play an instrument and want to find an engaging community on campus, you should consider joining the pep band. They practice on Wednesdays from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Memorial Field House. Stay on the lookout for these students at sports games and support them while they fire up Union’s athletes through songs everyone knows and loves.
