Three paths, one historic moment: Meet the women leading Pitt Band

With a commanding high step, a pretzeling backbend and a twirl of her royal blue and gold mace, Kennedy Aderogba leads the Pitt Marching Band onto the football field.

It's a performance steeped in tradition, but this fall, Aderogba and her fellow drum majors shattered the ceiling on all that's come before.

For the first time in the band's 115-year history, three women are leading its ranks. Aderogba, the head drum major, is also the first Black woman to hold that position. Alongside assistant drum majors Rachel McGregor and Gale Clark, she's helping guide some 260 musicians through the precision marching and spirited performances of Pitt Band.

How they arrived at this trailblazing moment couldn't have been more different.

One had never marched before college. Another needed three auditions to reach her goal. The third grew up moving from place to place, finding a sense of community whenever attached to a band.

Now, together, the three are finding strength in their differences. It all helps the trio to lead the Pitt Band at not only football games and halftime performances at Acrisure Stadium, but also at men's and women's basketball games, volleyball matches and other athletic events. In addition, as ambassadors for the University, the three lead the band at campus celebrations, community parades, regional band festivals, Pittsburgh Pirates games and charitable events.

For Aderogba, from Nashville, Tennessee, the journey began in sixth grade, when she took up the euphonium, inspired by an older sister who played tuba. She later performed in an orchestra at Vanderbilt University.

But her high school didn't offer marching band. When she arrived at Pitt, she decided to try something new.

Unfamiliar marching techniques and traditions brought self-doubt, but she persevered, auditioning for drum major during her sophomore year.

Now a junior triple-majoring in business information systems, business analytics and accounting in the School of Business with a French minor from the Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, Aderogba emphasizes a guidance and direction that she calls "firm kindness."

"Leadership is not about you as a leader," she says. "It's about the people you have the opportunity to lead."

She's also joyfully incorporating into the Pitt traditions her own "Kennedy-isms," elements inspired by her cultural heritage and pop music influences. She includes some dance movement and a longer ceremonial mace drawing from historically Black colleges and universities, and wearing a single white glove on her right hand, a nod to Michael Jackson.

McGregor's musical journey began in fourth grade, when she picked up the trumpet in Butler, Pennsylvania.

She initially attended Slippery Rock University intending to become a music teacher but discovered she loved performing more than pursuing music education. She transferred to Pitt, finding a welcoming band community and a mentor in former head drum major Courtney Sheridan.

Twice she auditioned for drum major. On her third attempt, she succeeded.

McGregor, who earned an undergraduate degree in communication rhetoric in the Dietrich School and is pursuing a master's in marketing science in the School of Business, received the news of her selection while eating dinner with friends.

Stunned, she could barely react. Instead, she kept eating her French fries.

Today, that playful spirit helps energize the band during rehearsals and game days.

"I like making people really happy," she says.

For Clark, a junior studying public policy in the School of Public and International Affairs and classics in the Dietrich School, with minors in Italian and statistics, music has always meant belonging.

Growing up in a military family, Clark moved frequently along the East Coast, rarely spending more than two years in one place. Wherever they went, band provided an instant community.

At Pitt, Clark joined the drumline, initially learning cymbals despite auditioning for bass drum. Embracing that change eventually gave Clark the courage to pursue being drum major, an experience that reinforced a belief in discipline, accountability and hard work.

Responsibilities for the trio extend far beyond performances. They teach marching fundamentals, conduct music, coordinate rehearsals and help sustain espirt de corps through long days and weeks of practice and performing.

They've also learned to rely on one another.

When musicians need encouragement, Aderogba offers it. When exhaustion threatens morale, McGregor brings a laugh. When the moment demands seriousness, Clark steps forward.

Their presence challenges assumptions about leadership, too.

In past experiences, Clark had observed that female drum majors sometimes needed male colleagues to reinforce their authority. With three women leading, they believe that dynamic has changed.

"It's not, oh, that's the girl drum major," Clark says. "Now, it's just, we are the drum majors."

Learn more about Pitt Band and find upcoming performances.

Photography by Tom Altany; pictured, from left, Director of Bands Brad Townsend, Gale Clark, Kennedy Aderogba and Rachel McGregor