Another honorary marching band society, Tau Beta Sigma (TBS), shares the lead for the Yellow Jacket Marching Band. This national marching band sorority was modeled after KKPsi, and counts Queen Latifa, Sheila E., and even John Denver as notable alumni.
“TBS encourages each chapter to host a ‘Woman in Music’ speaker every year, which Tech completed this past Spring,” Grace Kendrick, president of Tau Beta Sigma said.
“One of our purposes in TBS is to encourage women in the music profession, and with this series, we have women musicians speak to our band community about their experience in the industry as well as obstacles they faced as women in the music industry.”
The Epsilon Theta chapter of TBS was installed at Georgia Tech in 1973. In the 1990s, both Tech chapters of TBS and KKPsi became co-ed.
“We get a big sister from TBS and a big brother from KKPsi. Not every chapter does this, but we love fostering close bonds with our sisters,” Watkins said.
This coordinated leadership, and Georgia Tech’s unique marching band turn heads nationally, Kendrick said.
“Even though we are predominately math and science majors, unlike other TBS chapters which have a lot of music majors, we are considered a strong chapter in our district,” Kendrick said, “Our chapter is unique because we are able to balance our heavy academic load, be leaders in the band, and run a high-functioning organization under TBS simultaneously.”
Like their KKPsi brothers, the sisters of TBS helped found other chapters across the state.
“We have a strong relationship with our little sister Chapter at KSU,” Kendrick said. “Each semester, we hold at least one social event. When the KSU Chapter of TBS was founded in 2015, we helped them through the chartering process and served as mentors and role models in their TBS journey.”