[2006alum]

From my understanding, the university forced the Band's hand by forcing them to be overseen by the same branch of the Office of Student Affairs (the euphemistic doublespeak-sounding "Office of Student Engagement") that oversees the frats and sororities. In case you haven't kept up with recent campus goings-on, the university has been in a sustained multi-year war with a number of the housed frats and both of the housed dorms not formally owned by Stanford (Sigma Chi and Chi Theta Chi). My read is that Stanford wants to squash any sources of control that run outside formal administrative channels, so organizations like housed fraternities, non-university controlled dorms, and the Band all fall into that category.

[2006alum]

From my understanding, the university forced the Band's hand by forcing them to be overseen by the same branch of the Office of Student Affairs (the euphemistic doublespeak-sounding "Office of Student Engagement") that oversees the frats and sororities. In case you haven't kept up with recent campus goings-on, the university has been in a sustained multi-year war with a number of the housed frats and both of the housed dorms not formally owned by Stanford (Sigma Chi and Chi Theta Chi). My read is that Stanford wants to squash any sources of control that run outside formal administrative channels, so organizations like housed fraternities, non-university controlled dorms, and the Band all fall into that category.