The earliest appearance of a faculty-led music group performing for sports events was in the mid-1920s, when the University Band provided music for pre-game rallies and at the games. The band suffered from poor funding and outright disasters through the subsequent years, including a loss of its instruments and uniforms to a bus fire in 1941. After a brief resurgence in the late 1950s, including allocation of $12,000 for uniforms, instruments, and facilities by a faculty committee under University President Colgate Darden, the band had dwindled to 25 members by the early 1960s. The band's performances at football ceased in 1964.