From student to tradition-maker: Matt Fallin retires after nearly 40 years on campus

May 19, 2025

When Matt Fallin, DMA, arrived on the Georgia Southern campus in 1982, he had no idea it was where he would spend the next half of his life. Then a young music student, Fallin would go on to lay the groundwork for the brand new, still unnamed, marching band and eventually create traditions that future members of Eagle Nation would come to cherish. As Fallin prepares for life after Georgia Southern, he vividly remembers every special moment he shared as he journeyed through student life and into the role of professor.

“It was magical,” said Fallin. “That was Erk Russell’s first year and the marching band’s first year. Everything was new– all the drums, uniforms, everything. There was a buzz on campus.”

Fallin earned his bachelor’s in music from Georgia Southern College and continued his education with master’s and doctoral degrees elsewhere. While completing his doctorate, a friend from graduate school called to ask if he would consider accepting a faculty position back in Statesboro. Fallin could not decline the offer to return to the place that meant so much to him and he was soon teaching percussion at Georgia Southern, which had just received the designation of “university.” He immediately took on a nurturing role as he helped students find the same joy he once experienced on campus.

“I was doing arrangements that I thought the students would like, such as rock music,” said Fallin. “That’s just part of wanting to have a good time while making music.”

After settling in as professor, Fallin would go on to become the band director of the Southern Pride Marching Band and crafted the group into a powerhouse ensemble that continues to represent the University on a national level. Beloved traditions such as the chaotic “GSU Scramble” that features band members creating unscripted antics on the field before football games and the playing of “It Is Well” after a win were his own creations. Fallin notes that these staples of Georgia Southern’s culture came about by chance.

“I didn’t plan on making a victory tune, but there was a game that was particularly emotionally charged and I just said, ‘let’s play ‘It Is Well’ because we won and it is indeed well,’” said Fallin. “After that, we started playing it after wins. You don’t really start traditions, they just evolve.”

After almost 20 years leading Southern Pride, Fallin stepped down from the position to focus on teaching percussion classes. He spent time with individual students to see them grow from enrollment to graduation. All that one-on-one instruction kept Fallin’s heart full as he guided his students through the same challenges he once faced as he earned his degree inside the rehearsal halls of the Foy building.

“Watching them live and grow here, seeing them overcome struggles and succeed, makes me so proud,” said Fallin. “Sharing the fun moments with them has kept me young.”

Throughout his journey as a student and a professor, Fallin has always found a sense of community at Georgia Southern. The lines between yesterday and today blur as he thinks back on more than three decades of growth and family spent among the towering pine trees.

“Sometimes my time with the marching band and that whole era seems like a distant dream and sometimes it seems like only yesterday,” said Fallin. “Life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.”