Math teacher Richard Cowles went back to college Saturday. Cowles took part in the Longhorn Alumni Band’s halftime performance during The University of Texas’ home game against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks. 

The Longhorn Alumni Band includes alumni from the UT band who join together once a year to perform at halftime. The day started at 9 a.m. with an hour-long practice to make sure the alumni knew their marching lines and their music.

Cowles, who finished with the band in the fall of 1992, said that he didn’t need too much of a refresher because the music he learned back then has stayed with him after all these years.

¨Although the show looks complex, it’s not too bad,¨ he said. ¨For the most part most of us have it still somewhat memorized. I was able to do about 75% from memory and then just had to kind of remember some of the other stuff.¨

Cowles started playing trumpet in seventh grade. When he got to the University of Texas in 1987 he tried out for the Longhorn Band and was placed in the basketball band instead. After a year with the basketball band, Cowles gave it another shot, making the Longhorn Band the second time around. Getting back on the field last weekend was nostalgic for him.

¨It brings back such fond memories,¨ he said. ¨It’s great to be out there performing with your buddies. I saw some people that I haven’t seen in years. It was such a treat to catch up.¨

Along with seeing many former band mates, Cowles also connected with McCallum graduates who are current members of the Show Band of The Southwest.

¨It was a huge treat,¨ he said. ¨It was fun that there’s that tradition of people from McCallum going and getting into the Longhorn Band and that success. And certainly McCallum´s top marching program helps them succeed in getting into the Longhorn Band.¨

Longhorn Band piccolo player and junior Madelynn Niles was one of those students. Although the two didn’t catch up, they passed by each other after their performance, a special moment for Niles who had Cowles for AP Statistics before she graduated with the class of 2022.

¨It was definitely comforting to see a familiar face cheering us on at the end of the game, and also cool to realize and see how one of my McCallum teachers shared many of the same experiences in college that I am having now,¨ she said. ¨Even though I didn’t get to talk to Mr. Cowles at the game, I definitely feel a greater sense of connection to him now that we’re both a part of the LHB family. I hope I see him next year for my last alumni day.¨

Despite Longhorn Alumni Band members spanning several generations, Niles said there is a strong bond between them and the group of students in the Longhorn Band today. 

¨It is actually pretty surreal to play alongside people that marched in the band in the ’50s, ’60s, etc.,¨ she said. ¨We have such a shared experience. It’s also really cool to see how the band has changed over the years, but we still do a lot of the same things, too. As cheesy as it sounds, it really does feel like a family. A family of over 1,000.¨

Mellophone player John Hamlet, who was in the same graduating class as Niles, feels the same way.

¨It was really special,¨ he said. ¨Longhorn Band is home to a tight-knit community, very similar to McCallum. It’s very nice when the two communities overlap.¨

Hamlet also saw Cowles at the game and emphasized the significance of the opportunity to march with the Alumni Band.

¨The experience with the alumni was exciting,¨ he said. ¨It’s cool to see the decades of people who come back every year to march again, and it shows just how much of an impact both LHB and band in general have on people’s lives.¨

In his third year at the university, a performance like this one is fairly routine for Hamlet, but one he doesn’t take for granted, especially on unique nights like this one.

¨Playing halftime shows in DKR [Darrell K Royal Texas Memorial Stadium] is always amazing,¨ he said. ¨There’s nothing like an audience of 100,000 people to get you hyped up. Having the alumni definitely makes it a unique experience for sure, especially with the amount this year. It shows how much being at UT and in LHB means to so many people.¨

Though UT sophomore saxophonist Stephanie Gallegos did not have Cowles as a teacher at Mac, she spotted him immediately on the field.

¨He happened to be right in front of me when the current band joined the alumni band during the performance,¨ she said. ¨I remember walking out to my spot during the rehearsal and seeing a McCallum shirt in front of me. I didn’t know he played trumpet, so my immediate thought was ‘no way.’ It was really cool and kind of ‘what are the odds?’ considering how many people are on the field at the time.¨

Like Niles and Hamlet, she couldn’t help but appreciate the unique experience.

¨There’s around 1,000 of us on the field,¨ she said. ¨You have people who were part of the Longhorn Band in the 1960s to people who are in their first year of college. It’s a sweet reminder that you’re part of something bigger, and it’s so fun to see them partake in traditions that they did in college that we still do today. There’s a game my section plays right before we enter the stadium, and this time we also got to play with the alumni.¨

For current or past members of the Longhorn Band, Saturday night provided a memorable experience, one that Cowles, like these Mac alumni, found to be energizing.

¨Being on the field, hearing all the cheers, playing the ‘Eyes of Texas’ with a thousand instruments was pretty cool,¨ he said. ¨It was loud, which was neat. As well as just remembering what it was like to get on the field and march in front of a big crowd. It’s certainly an adrenaline rush.¨