With less than a week before Donald Trump's inauguration as the country's 45th president, the Talladega College marching band has received nearly five times the amount of what it needs to travel to Washington, D.C., to play during inauguration ceremonies.
"It will be a teachable moment for them to understand the importance of supporting the leader of the free world, despite one's political viewpoint," Harvey said. "After all, the reason for being of any college or university should be to promote learning and not to enhance a political agenda."
"As many of those who chose to participate in the parade have said, we feel the inauguration of a new president is not a political event but a civil ceremony celebrating the transfer of power," Hawkins said in a news release.
Talladega alumnus and Hampton University President William R. Harvey, also quoted in the release, called it "a wonderful learning experience."