Trailblazer Barbara Trautwein Garners 2021 Gene Hooks Lifetime Achievement Award
12/19/2021 7:00:00 AM | General
Barbara Trautwein will be honored at the Wake Forest Sports Hall of Fame ceremony this spring.
While the women's pep band members paired off to form the letter "O" as part of the D-E-A-C-O-N-S spell out during a second-half timeout, Director Barbara Trautwein pulled an innocent bystander from the crowd to join her in replicating the effort.
Often they would be presented with a little yellow business card proclaiming, "You have been 'O'd' by Mzeztee."
"Congratulations, you've been O'd by the director of the women's pep band," Trautwein would say to those she chose for this honor. "If you are anywhere near me at the right time, I'll catch you."
After nearly 40 years of service to Wake Forest University, Trautwein is being honored at the 2021 Gene Hooks Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
"I'm just flabbergasted," Trautwein said. "I just can't imagine it. It's beyond my comprehension. I'm really honored. If I were speechless, I'd be speechless, but I'm never speechless."
Trautwein moved to Winston-Salem with her husband, George, in 1981 and landed a job in Wake Forest's music department. After latching onto ACC basketball early in her time in the Triad, Trautwein is credited with starting the women's basketball pep band 36 years ago.
"I started the band in 1985 and I was able to lead it for the next 20 years," she explained. "I have just been hanging around ever since."
Originally hired to help teach music students, Trautwein saw her responsibilities continue to grow during her time at Wake Forest.
"They began looking for a temporary director of bands," she said. "I applied and got the job in the fall of 1985. It was supposed to be a one-year position, but it became two years, largely because Dr. Gene Hooks recommended me."
In 1987 she was named the assistant director of athletic bands, which she held until 2005.
"Right now my position is advisor to the Spirit of the Old Gold and Black, which means I have to wear all the free clothes they give me," Trautwein, now 90-years old, joked.
During her time as director, Trautwein made a huge impact on the program. She devised the current arrangement of the Wake Forest fight song, "O, Here's to Wake Forest", followed by the Alma Mater, "Dear Old Wake Forest."
Some of her most memorable moments working with the band came on road trips to the NCAA Tournament with the women's basketball program in 1988 and to the Orange Bowl in 2006.
"I really enjoyed making the trip with the pep band for the women's NCAA Tournaments, both at Villanova and Tennessee, especially the Villanova one, because we won that one," Trautwein said, reflecting about the game-winning shot over Villanova by current Demon Deacons head coach Jen Hoover.
You can still see Trautwein mix it up with the crowd on the court during a second-half timeout of nearly every Wake Forest women's basketball game during the playing of the Village People song, "Y.M.C.A."
"My goal was and still is to amuse the crowd and connect with them," she said with a laugh.
One thing is constant — "Mzeztee" will be at every home game.
"Doctors don't want me driving at night, but my car knows the way," Trautwein said.
"It would take a lot to prevent her from going to a Wake Forest football or basketball game — men's or women's," Wake Forest director of strategic development Anthony Tang said. "You would have to move mountains to force her to not go. If you took away her car keys, she would just walk! She's that kind of spirit."
Often they would be presented with a little yellow business card proclaiming, "You have been 'O'd' by Mzeztee."
"Congratulations, you've been O'd by the director of the women's pep band," Trautwein would say to those she chose for this honor. "If you are anywhere near me at the right time, I'll catch you."
After nearly 40 years of service to Wake Forest University, Trautwein is being honored at the 2021 Gene Hooks Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.
"I'm just flabbergasted," Trautwein said. "I just can't imagine it. It's beyond my comprehension. I'm really honored. If I were speechless, I'd be speechless, but I'm never speechless."
Trautwein moved to Winston-Salem with her husband, George, in 1981 and landed a job in Wake Forest's music department. After latching onto ACC basketball early in her time in the Triad, Trautwein is credited with starting the women's basketball pep band 36 years ago.
"I started the band in 1985 and I was able to lead it for the next 20 years," she explained. "I have just been hanging around ever since."
Originally hired to help teach music students, Trautwein saw her responsibilities continue to grow during her time at Wake Forest.
"They began looking for a temporary director of bands," she said. "I applied and got the job in the fall of 1985. It was supposed to be a one-year position, but it became two years, largely because Dr. Gene Hooks recommended me."
In 1987 she was named the assistant director of athletic bands, which she held until 2005.
"Right now my position is advisor to the Spirit of the Old Gold and Black, which means I have to wear all the free clothes they give me," Trautwein, now 90-years old, joked.
During her time as director, Trautwein made a huge impact on the program. She devised the current arrangement of the Wake Forest fight song, "O, Here's to Wake Forest", followed by the Alma Mater, "Dear Old Wake Forest."
Some of her most memorable moments working with the band came on road trips to the NCAA Tournament with the women's basketball program in 1988 and to the Orange Bowl in 2006.
"I really enjoyed making the trip with the pep band for the women's NCAA Tournaments, both at Villanova and Tennessee, especially the Villanova one, because we won that one," Trautwein said, reflecting about the game-winning shot over Villanova by current Demon Deacons head coach Jen Hoover.
You can still see Trautwein mix it up with the crowd on the court during a second-half timeout of nearly every Wake Forest women's basketball game during the playing of the Village People song, "Y.M.C.A."
"My goal was and still is to amuse the crowd and connect with them," she said with a laugh.
One thing is constant — "Mzeztee" will be at every home game.
"Doctors don't want me driving at night, but my car knows the way," Trautwein said.
"It would take a lot to prevent her from going to a Wake Forest football or basketball game — men's or women's," Wake Forest director of strategic development Anthony Tang said. "You would have to move mountains to force her to not go. If you took away her car keys, she would just walk! She's that kind of spirit."
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