The Alcorn State University Sounds of Dyn-O-Mite was selected to perform in the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, representing the state of Mississippi. This monumental opportunity will provide unparalleled national exposure to the historically Black, land-grant University and is a life-changing moment for the student musicians. It all started with Dr. Everson Martin, the director of bands at Alcorn State University, who had a vision to put Alcorn on the national stage.
“There is a selection process for bands to participate in those monumental parades, whether it be the Tournament of Roses or the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,” explained Dr. Martin. “I knew if I could get past the first stage, I could sell them on the story of Alorn.”
Alcorn State University was founded in 1871 as the nation’s first public historically black land-grant institution, named after Governor James L. Alcorn. It was established on the site of the former Oakland College and became the first of its kind to educate the descendants of formerly enslaved people. Hiram R. Revels, the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate was Alcorn’s first president.
“I wanted them to know we’re a small HBCU in rural Southwest Mississippi. Most of my students have never left the state of Mississippi. Most of my students, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime type of opportunity,” shared Dr. Martin.
Dr. Martin got a call about a month later, and the voice on the other end said, “Dr. Martin, are you sitting down? Alcorn State University band has been selected to be in the 2025 Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade!”
Austin Swan, a piccolo player and a section leader in the Dyn-O-Mite band, recalls the excitement when leadership shared the exciting news.
“We had a big event in our gym where we had parents come and see all of the freshmen that had just left home to come to band camp,” shared Swan. “When they broke the news that we were going to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, the gym erupted in cheers. I really couldn’t believe it. I grew up watching the parade on Thanksgiving with my great-grandma.”
After the initial excitement, the band and the University got to work. The band’s “March to Macy’s” goal was to raise $500,000 to cover travel and logistics for the parade, making this not just a performance story, but a powerful narrative about student opportunity and institutional pride.
“We’ve met our initial goal of $500,000 thanks to the ASU Foundations, community, public, and private partners,” shared Dr. Martin. “So now we get to count down the days, and we’re gonna go out there and put on a good show and represent Alcorn and the state of Mississippi!”
The student musicians will have the opportunity to experience New York during the week leading up to the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The morning of the parade will require an early alarm clock of about 2:30 am, and lots of warm clothes, but the band plans to bring Mississippi to the Big Apple.
“We will definitely play our fight song, our war chant, Cherokee, and I can’t tell you the rest,” laughed Dr. Martin. “You’ll have to tune in and see.”
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade airs on NBC and streams on Peacock starting at 7:30 am Central Standard Time on Thursday, November 27. An encore telecast will begin at 1:00 pm Central Standard Time. The Sounds of Dyn-O-Mite expects to be somewhere in the middle, but that is left to be determined.
