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2025 Board of Director Election Information |
Alumni Band Board of Director elections, Friday, October 31, 2025 at 5pm - Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 5pm. Please check your email for a personal link to vote. The email will come from “WVU Alumni Band <invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com>” on Friday. Please see candidate and ballot information below. |
Candidates |
Years marching with The Pride: 1982-1986; Staff 1987 Why do you want to serve as a Board of Director? The WVU Alumni Band has been a cherished part of my life, representing family, tradition, and pride. Serving on the board gives me the opportunity to give back to an organization that has shaped so much of who I am. I enjoy fostering connections among alumni, supporting current members of The Pride, and helping our group grow with transparency and collaboration. As the 2019 Outstanding Alumnus, I remain committed to building on our shared legacy while helping guide the Alumni Band into an exciting new era. My values and leadership style are deeply rooted in the lessons and example set by the late Don Wilcox — a man whose passion, discipline, and heart for people live on in every one of us who marched under his direction. Committee or Officer position(s) you have held with the WVU Alumni Band?
Years with the Alumni Band: 20 Years marching with The Pride: 1999-2005 Why do you want to serve as a Board of Director? I’ve been on the WVU Alumni Band Board for the past two years and served as Co-Vice President this year. During that time, I’ve done my best to be a steady voice for transparency, open communication, fairness, and following the bylaws, even when it hasn’t always been easy or popular. I really believe the WVU Alumni Band should be a place where everyone feels valued, no matter if you graduated yesterday or fifty years ago. We all share the same love for the Pride of West Virginia, and every generation should feel welcome and part of this community. One thing I’ve been especially passionate about is finding better ways to connect with our younger alumni. I’ve been advocating for a Young Alumni Committee focused on communication, engagement, and leadership development. The goal is to help younger members get involved, find activities they care about, and give them the chance to grow into future leaders on committees and the board. They’re not just the future of this organization, they’re a vital part of it right now. So why vote for me? Because I truly care about this organization and everyone in it. I’m not afraid to speak up, to ask tough questions, and to do the work to make things better. I believe in fairness, honesty, respect, and transparency, and I want to keep working to make sure those values guide how we move forward together as the WVU Alumni Band. Committee or Officer position(s) you have held with the WVU Alumni Band?
Years marching with The Pride: 2012-2015 Why do you want to serve as a Board of Director? I have been a very strong advocate to try and bring all years together within the Alumni Band. I started to serve as part of the Bylaws Committee this year as well as serve as interim Parliamentarian to help assist with keeping this organization moving in a positive direction. It’s my goal to eventually get those members from the years I marched to march with me again and help participate in the Alumni Band gatherings to help the transitions that happen as well as be there for their kids who might end up coming to WVU and marching in The Pride together. Committee or Officer position(s) you have held with the WVU Alumni Band?
Years marching with The Pride: 2019-2022 Why do you want to serve as a Board of Director? I’m a younger alumnus, and I’d love to serve on the board again because I care a lot about making sure our band is a welcoming and fun place for people of all ages. No matter when we marched or what we played, we all share the same love for the Pride and the community that comes with it. I want to keep that connection strong and make sure everyone feels like they belong and can take part in what we’re doing. The band means a lot to me, and I’d love the chance to give back and help it grow for years to come. Committee or Officer position(s) you have held with the WVU Alumni Band?
Years marching with The Pride: 1975-1977 Why do you want to serve as a Board of Director? The Pride of West Virginia has played a significant role in my life. My father was Drum Major, and my uncle was a featured twirler. Don Wilcox was a mentor. Traveling with him in the 2000s to Western and, especially, Eastern Europe gave me a unique perspective on the value the Alumni Band can have supporting the Pride, and as an emissary for the University and the State of West Virginia. It’s time for me to give back. I believe that for the Alumni band to thrive we must continue to find ways to welcome new members from among graduates. Now that the on-campus Pride Practice Facility is a reality, the Alumni Band must step forward and take the lead in exploring ways to raise funding for Phases II and III of the practice field. We must strengthen our ties with current membership, and provide additional benefit for their dues, such as regular newsletters, features updating members on current Pride and Alumni Band events, and regular accounting to them through timely delivery of minutes and regular updates on the organization’s financial status. We must maintain strong relationships with the College of Creative Arts and Media and WVU Athletic Department. As the author of the articles that revealed questionable motivations behind the attempt to move the Pride Practice Field to Mylan Park, I believe we must work for a stronger, mutually respectful, more transparently accountable relationship with the WVU Foundation and University administration. Our membership should never be put in the position of questioning whether their donations to the Pride are being properly administered. I have considerable experience serving on boards. I was appointed to serve on the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) Communications Board, which sets national standards for internal and external communications at all U.S. nuclear power plants. I was president of the Orlando Press Club Association, and I helped create the Central Florida Chapter of the WVU Alumni Association. As a consultant, I assisted in the development of outreach for non-profit organizations, including Friends of the Cheat and the annual Ohio Valley River Sweep Environmental Cleanup. I worked with focus groups on the development of the Cheat Lake Trail. I am dedicated to helping the WVU Alumni Band achieve increasing success in supporting the Pride of West Virginia. Committee or Officer position(s) you have held with the WVU Alumni Band?
|  David O'NealYears with the Alumni Band: 39
Why do you want to serve as a Board of Director? I served on the board for many years before taking time off for medical reasons. I am now healthy again and ready to get back to work. When I started on the board many years ago, I realized what a sacrifice it is. There are many hours put into planning and setting up for events for the Alumni Band and The Pride. During those years, we started fundraising as well and we now have a new practice field from those efforts. While doing all of these things, we all worked together as a cohesive group and had a blast doing our jobs, even though the time sacrifice was extremely hard. In the two years I have been off of the board however things have not been going very smoothly and there is lots of tension amongst the board. I have been asked by many members of our organization, Board of Directors, The Pride staff, CAC staff, and even past leaders of The Pride to please come back and try to restore the joy that used to be the norm. I would appreciate your vote so I can go back and rejoin my old colleagues who worked so well together and get things moving in the right direction again. I want to help set up our future leaders of this organization to succeed and to have fun while doing it. Committee or Officer position(s) you have held with the WVU Alumni Band?
Why do you want to serve as a Board of Director? I would like to continue to serve on the Board of the WVU Alumni Band because I think that I bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the organization in order to help the organization provide assistance to the WVU Marching Band. That experience comes in the form of understanding the people involved at the Band Office, the needs of the Band Office, and providing solutions to them via this Board so that they can continue to be one of the top programs in the country. I do a lot of things behind the scenes as shown below, more than most people that are part of the organization, that help the organization operate smoothly and provide our members with the best experiences possible. - Equipment Manager responsibilities
- Member of the Fundraising and Events committee
- Member of the Communications Committee
- Member of the Bylaws Committee
- Member of the Performance Committee
Over the next two years, I’d like the Alumni Band to continue working with WVU and the Band Office to provide more opportunities for the Alumni Band to perform and be ambassadors for WVU and the WVU Bands not just in West Virginia, but also in WVU’s main recruitment areas. Committee or Officer position(s) you have held with the WVU Alumni Band?
Years marching with The Pride: 1974-1977 Why do you want to serve as a Board of Director? I am just completing my first 2-year term as a board member. During my first year I was on the bylaws committee. Currently I am serving as President. I was able to utilize my managerial, organizational and conference planning skills to procure a new venue, and catering contract in 6 hours 8 days before the Alumni Band Gala when the WVU Museum and WVU Elori catering were unable to provide what was promised. I want to work with the Fundraising Committee to continue to grow the WVU Alumni Band Gala. It was very successful despite many obstacles this year and I believe there is room for more attendees and donations in the future. I believe I still have much to offer this organization. In 2026-2027 I would like to see that both Fundraising and the General Fund explore and determine what interest-bearing accounts we can invest our money into to grow wealth rather than it sit in checking accounts. I have specifically looked at both short term CDs and Money Market accounts. Committee or Officer position(s) you have held with the WVU Alumni Band?
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Ballot Information |
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