GSU Band Back Home From Inauguration Trip
By: Alanna Quillen
Updated: January 23, 2013
GRAMBLING -- After a 24-hour long bus ride from Washington D.C., the Grambling State University marching band is back home in the ArkLaMiss.
The GSU band was one of two marching bands to perform in the inauguration celebrations for president Barack Obama's second term.
Students say they saw the president and vice president Joe Biden in person at the ceremony.
Marching band director Larry Pannell Pannell said he's thankful for the support the band received from people across the entire state.
"We're just so elated that we got to go back a second time and be ambassadors of good will for the state of Louisiana and GSU, and all the HBCU marching bands, because they didn't have but one this time, and it was us." said Pannell.
Pannell added that the trip was an educational experience - to see see the sights and monuments of the capital. The students also saw the Martin Luther King Jr. monument on MLK Day.
"It was really nice to see that and be a part of that, that was really cool," said Ashley Freeman, a junior in the marching band. "I can honestly say that going to the inauguration was an experience within itself."
The other marching band to perform was from the president's high school in Hawaii .
The GSU band was one of two marching bands to perform in the inauguration celebrations for president Barack Obama's second term.
Students say they saw the president and vice president Joe Biden in person at the ceremony.
Marching band director Larry Pannell Pannell said he's thankful for the support the band received from people across the entire state.
"We're just so elated that we got to go back a second time and be ambassadors of good will for the state of Louisiana and GSU, and all the HBCU marching bands, because they didn't have but one this time, and it was us." said Pannell.
Pannell added that the trip was an educational experience - to see see the sights and monuments of the capital. The students also saw the Martin Luther King Jr. monument on MLK Day.
"It was really nice to see that and be a part of that, that was really cool," said Ashley Freeman, a junior in the marching band. "I can honestly say that going to the inauguration was an experience within itself."
The other marching band to perform was from the president's high school in Hawaii .
