Starting their year off with a bang, N.C. A&T’s Blue and Gold Marching Machine began the year with a new vision and new leadership.
Now under the direction of A&T alumnus Kenneth Ruff, the group says they are excited about the change and looking forward to a great year.
Ruff says he’s continuing the legacy that recently retired director Johnny Hodge left. So far, he’s led the Blue and Gold Marching Machine to a $25,000 victory and first place title at the First Annual Defeat the Beat/Battle of the Bands competition in late August.
Ruff is a Greensboro native with an undergraduate degree in music education from A&T, a master’s degree in music and a doctorate degree in education from UNCG.
He says being raised in a single parent home allowed him to recognize how hard his mother worked for what she had.
Ruff credits his mother for instilling in him the value of education, he said.
He has worked with A&T since 1983, first as an undergraduate student, then as a graduate assistant for Hodge.
No stranger to the band, he also served as drum major and student director. Hodge later asked Ruff to return in the fall to help with the band.
“Being in the band taught me a lot about dealing with an organization, especially a large organization,” he said. “It also taught me a lot about leadership. When I was at A&T, we where like one big family. It’s a large group and you learn to take care of one another.”
Ruff also feels God led him to his current position.
“God leads my life,” he said. “I am committed to what he wants me to do, so when I come into a job, I pray about it, and I say to him, ‘If this is what you would have me to do then, therefore give me the job.'”
Ruff’s commitment to his job and to the band members is evident in Kelvin Jordan, a freshman music education major who chose to come to A&T because of his previous knowledge of Ruff.
“I had never really seen A&T march,” Jordan said. “I just saw a few clips off the Internet. I found out that Dr. Ruff was going to be the band director, and he was my band director during high school, so that led me to A&T and the band.”
As band director, Ruff is responsible for the direction of the 230-member band. He also plans the band’s trips and organizes all of the activities of the band, from eating to travel arrangements.
From game to game, the planning and recruiting is continuously year-round. With about 22 people on staff they are credited with helping the band flow and stay organized.
Continuing where Hodge left off, Ruff says he plans to mix things up this year and bring something new while keeping with the band’s same 20 or 30-year-old traditions.
One of Ruff’s goals is to do more concerts with the symphonic and concert band, but is constantly working on new drills, and new music.
“I want A&T to be the originators and not the duplicators. I want other bands to look at us and say ‘Oh, A&T did it so let’s do it.’ Not A&T saying ‘Oh, someone else did let’s do it.’ I want us to be the people who set the trends,” Ruff said.
“Dr. Ruff is an excellent fit for the school,” said junior biology major Donavan Caves. “Being that he previously worked with the band he knows the improvements that need to be made to make the band even better, and that what’s he’s doing.”