Staying up all night to protect a statue in October might sound a little ridiculous to the average person.
But to the Spartan Marching Band, it’s a traditional duty the band is glad to uphold.
Each year during week leading up to the football game vs. University of Michigan, the band spends every night outside on Sparty Watch — protecting Sparty from anyone who attempts to vandalize, or throw dildos at the statue, which happened in 2013.
Dozens of Spartan Marching Band members gather around 8 or 9 p.m. each night and stay until about midnight, when they sing “Victory for MSU.”
After that, the job is up to Johnny Spirit to stay the whole night.
But Thursday, some members stayed all night, huddled in sleeping bags behind the statue.
Journalism junior Emma-Jean Bedford said she loves the event. Although not everyone spends the night, she said she will.
“I just feel like it’s part of the experience, part of Sparty Watch, part of fulfilling my duties as a Spartan Marching Band member and part of the tradition, mostly,” Bedford said.
Music education senior Rachel Sze said many members come out for the same reasons.
“There isn’t an obligation as far as members coming but I feel like there’s a spirit and an energy where people want to participate in this really great event,” Sze said.
Tuesday night, head coach Mark Dantonio came at 9:50 p.m. to thank the band for their support and bring them pizza.
The band fraternity and sorority, Kappa Kappa Psi and Tau Beta Sigma, respectively, host the Sparty Watch.
Packaging junior Caleb Doerr is part of the committee which puts the week together every year.
He said the committee starts planning for guarding the statue during the summer.
“We work together to help create Sparty Watch,” Doerr said. “Everything from what shirts are we gonna order, what designs are they gonna have, what themes are we gonna do each night, how do we get Dantonio here — everything in between.”
But the members said they regard this week as more than just a chance to continue a tradition.
Bedford said she thinks of it as a time to bond with her friends.
“No one’s going to come to the Spartan statue and do the macarena, like you see right here, but we do it,” she said. “I do it because of the tradition. I do it because I love everyone in the band with me. They’re my best friends, they’re my family.”
Quinton Merrill, a fisheries and wildlife and professional writing senior, said Sparty Watch also gets the band and the university excited for the big rivalry game.
“It’s fun because people see you sleeping by Sparty and they honk and you wake up,” Merrill said. “It just a really great time to be revved up for class and push through the week so you can get to the weekend so you can really perform as an ensemble and as a student section.”
