Administrative History of Creating Unit
The Medicare 7, 8, or 9 Dixieland Cooperative Band was formed by Dan Perrino during a period of unprecedented student unrest at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana (UIUC) in 1969. Perrino, then Dean of Student Programs and Services and a former professor of music at UIUC, gathered together a group of faculty to play jazz in the student union to help ease the tensions between the campus' students and faculty. Perrino chose to have the band perform its first concert in the University's Illini Union South Lounge, a gathering place for activist-minded students, in order to provide a common music experience that the faculty and students alike could enjoy. Eventually the band was named Medicare 7, 8, or 9 as a humorous reference to the wide range of its membership's ages and the diverse number of performers that frequently played for each concert. For over thirty years the band was recognized as a beloved community institution that played for alumni and campus events, community organizations throughout Illinois, Illinois governors, and nationally-televised football games.
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