Renewal, Reorganization, and Revitalization (1946–1959)

  • Band Re-Forms - 1946
    • After the war, the band re-forms with 36 men, most of them ex-GIs, led by drum, majorette Evelyne Rower. Rowe travels by separate car with chaperones to away games and is not allowed to date band members. Love prevails, however, and she later marries a trombone player (and nowadays U.S. deputy secretary of agriculture) Richard Rominger.
  • Lawrence McArdell Becomes Faculty Director - 1948
    • Lawrence McArdell is appointed faculty director and introduces popular songs into the band's repertoire, including "Goodnight, Irene" and "Hoop-Dee-Doo."
  • Red Hot Award is Formed - 1948
    • The Cal Aggie Band award Society is formed to promote participation in the band and fellowship of members. To become a member of the society and receive an award, a band member has to participate in all band functions for two semesters. The award persists to this day, now known as the Red Hot Award. 
  • Recruiting Female Members Begins - 1949
    • The band, which since 1946 had been all male, begins actively to recruit female members. Inclusion of women, an unusual practice for university bands at the time, doubles the band's size to more than 60 members during the 1950s. 
  • Student Director Becomes a Position - 1950
    • Director McArdell expands student management of the band with the addition to the student director.
  • Jerome Rosen Becomes Faculty Director - 1953
    • 1953
  • CAMB Constitution is Written - 1955
    • Provost  Stanley Freeborn orders that a constitution for the band be drawn up after the Executive Committee of the Associated Students tries to eliminate the faculty director's role (notifying Professor Rosen in the middle of a football game). The action was prompted over what the committee viewed as encroachment upon its authority over student funded activities. The constitution stipulates that the band is to be controlled largely by the student members with the advice of the faculty adviser; it launches a period of stability that last about 15 years. 
  • Band Receives New  - 1956
    • The band receives new uniforms, replacing ones bought secondhand from the UC Berkeley band after they considered them too old to wear. 
  • Larry Austin Becomes Faculty Director - 1958
    • Larry Austin, former assistant director and arranger for the UC Berkeley band, becomes faculty director and begins to vigorously recruit new members. 
  • Mav'rik "Bowler" Band is Formed - 1958
    • A small group of bandsmen - wearing Bermuda shorts, Hawaiian shirts, Suspenders, ties and Bowler hats - begins playing for basketball games. This group, which was known as the Bowler Band, evolved into the Mav'rik band with its uniforms of jeans, white shirts, string ties and cowboy hats. 
  • Davis Joins the University of California System - 1959
    • The campus becomes a general campus of the University of California, with authority to add new majors and expand graduate programs.