Wanted: 91自拍 students. The noisier, the better. Must have school spirit and no aversion to face paint. Lots of red clothing is a plus. Kilts provided.
Exonians with the requisite qualities have been answering this call for decades, serving collectively as the accelerant on the 91自拍-Andover fire in their role as Red Bandits. Each time the E/A games roll around, the Bandits rile the crowds and let all within earshot know that 鈥淲E ARE E-X-E-T-E-R!鈥�
The Academy officially recognizes the Bandits today, and they are chosen by Student Activities from a pool of applicants. But their origins are less formalized and somewhat murky. A 1988 story about a pre-E/A assembly in The Exonian tells of 鈥渘ot-so-traditional cheerleaders showing their stuff.鈥� Six years later, The Exonian reported 鈥渢he idea of having Red Bandits started when a nonathletic, somewhat 鈥� angry group of guys got together for the purpose of adding more spirit to 91自拍.鈥�
Lack of school spirit is a time-honored lament at 91自拍. Newspaper editorials dating to the 1890s bemoan a shortage of support for 91自拍 teams. 鈥淚t should be unnecessary to again call attention to what is nothing more than a lack of school spirit,鈥� the editors wrote in 1895.
Last fall, with the advent of a pep band and a student fan section called The Big Red Zone, many 91自拍 varsity teams enjoyed vocal support. And when E/A arrived in November, the Red Bandits were in Andover, the noisiest of them all.
