Roebuck, who has led the World Famed Grambling State Tiger Marching Band since 2019, is the first woman to lead the band in its 100-year existence.
DR. NIKOLE ROEBUCK stepped on to the turf at Malone Stadium at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.
The familiarity remained, as Roebuck received her master of music degree from the university in 2005. But on this night, the stadium lights felt more like spotlights and the field became her stage. Their stage. It was Roebuck’s first game directing the World Famed Tiger Marching Band as the director of bands.
As the band started moving into the stadium in Roebuck’s mind, the band members wondered how this, a dream she’d held for decades, had become her reality.
The shrill tone from the drum major’s whistle brought her back into the moment. Roebuck stared at the band members, whom she affectionately calls her babies, and soaked in every bit of the night.
“I could see the crowd, I could see the people waving, but it was just an out-of-body experience. It was like everything was moving in slow motion,” Roebuck says. “I was like, ‘Wow, I am leading the World Famed Tiger Marching Band.”
Seven years later, it still feels surreal.
“Sometimes we dream really big, but there’s always a small voice,” Roebuck says.
“And you think to yourself, ‘Will this dream ever become a reality? Will it ever happen?’ And when it finally did I remember pinching myself and going home. Have you ever had a happy, ugly cry? I still get emotional now thinking about it.”
Although Roebuck has settled into the position she’s held since 2019, leading the distinguished band still brings joy, excitement and humility with every performance. Not only does Roebuck serve as the director of bands, she is also the university’s music department chair, assistant professor of music and the first woman to do so in the band’s 100-year existence. Roebuck is only the third woman in Historically Black College and University (HBCU) history to do so.
The legacy of Grambling State had been embedded within Roebuck since she was a little girl. While other children spend their summers playing under the beaming hot Louisiana sun, Roebuck spent the summers with her aunt and uncle, Dr. Joseph Miller, who served as Grambling’s assistant director of bands in the 1980s. Being around Miller and the bands, a natural curiosity formed. Roebuck asked to attend band camps and as she got older, bands continued to pique her interest.
First, it started with baton-twirling lessons. Roebuck enjoyed it, but there was something alluring about the instruments, the sound of music and the perfect arrangements that Roebuck couldn’t shake. One day, when Roebuck was 8 years old, she put down her baton and finally asked her uncle for a horn.
“He said, ‘Well, you’re not old enough just yet, but when you’re old enough, I’ll get with your mom and your dad and I’ll make sure that you get your first instrument,” Roebuck says. “But until then, I want you to make sure that Uncle Joe doesn’t fall off the ladder.”
Roebuck sat at the bottom of the ladder, looking up at Uncle Joe to make sure he didn’t fall, just as he instructed. But while sitting there in the dirt and grass, watching the band and her uncle, Roebuck didn’t know she would go from sitting at the bottom of the director’s ladder to conducting atop it decades later.
ROEBUCK HAILS FROM Minden, a small town in northwest Louisiana with a population of 12,000. Roebuck stayed close to home and after attending high school, choosing Grambling State University was a no-brainer. But surprisingly, as much as she loved music, Roebuck initially wanted to study nursing, graduate and work at Minden Medical Center. Roebuck spoke to her mother about her potential career path and was encouraged to think deeply about what she really wanted.
“I started thinking about my love for music and I said, I want to be a band director,” Roebuck says. “I remember going back and telling my mom and she said, ‘Are you sure? There are not many females in that area.”
But Roebuck was positive. With her mother’s support, she went to Grambling and, just as she thought, was the only female student in her class. Roebuck enjoyed her years at Grambling, especially being a member of the band, becoming a member of the black greek sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, Inc., meeting her husband and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in music education. Roebuck went on to get her master of music degree at ULM in 2005 and, four years later, earned her doctor of philosophy in music education from the University of Memphis.
After graduation, Roebuck served as a middle and high school director. Although Grambling still remained the ultimate dream job, Roebuck used her time in other roles to learn more and teach. Each job was a stepping stone, and Roebuck was closer to getting back to Grambling than she expected. Roebuck returned to Grambling and has been back almost 20 years.
Everything she has worked and prayed for has come to fruition. And although her accomplishments are worth celebrating, Roebuck learned quickly that everyone didn’t feel the same way.
“When I took over, they didn’t necessarily know me,” Roebuck says. “They just knew Grambling had a female band director. Some individuals don’t embrace change so it was, “I don’t like it. I’m not going to support.’ I wasn’t ready for that because I’m the type of person who wants to give everybody a chance. Now seven years later, it’s totally different, thank the Lord.”
With Roebuck leading the way, the feel and energy of the band has transitioned in the most positive ways. It begins with the recruitment process, which also includes international trips for talented musicians. And while Roebuck is impressed by talent, she always looks at a student’s grade point average because, for her, academics will always come first.
“I want to recruit and retain them in the program but most importantly, at the end of four years, I want to see them come across the stage with their degree,” Roebuck says.
Once Roebuck has the band together, usually around 300 members, she’s learning her “babies’” individual personalities while simultaneously bringing them out of their shells and pushing them to show what they’re capable of.
Dale Marshall, Jr., Grambling’s 2025 head drum major, can attest to Roebuck’s character in and out of the bandroom. Marshall Jr., who joined the band in 2021, was nervous and excited to be part of something that means so much to him. Being around Roebuck over the years has helped him grow, with Marshall Jr. noting that Roebuck’s affectionate yet stern personality is the stability that he and other band members needed.
“I’ve grown so much from being in the band,” Marshall Jr. said. “I definitely wouldn’t be the person I am right now if I never became drum major or if I never stepped into a leadership position. I’ve learned from Dr. Roebuck that a lot of people have their eyes on you, so the smallest things that you do really matter. I’m so thankful for what the band has done for me and how it’s helped me grow.”
After getting a feel for the band as a whole, the arrangements flow naturally. Although how the band sounds is important, Roebuck gauges the performances by how the crowd feels.
“Our goal is to make sure that when the audience leaves, we’ve played something that you can remember and that keeps the fans coming back,” Roebuck says. “It goes back to that legacy we always lived off. Give the people what they want.”
EVERY DAY IS different in the life of Dr. Nikole Roebuck, but her routine rarely changes. Early in the morning while her husband, an educator, and her son who is off to college at Grambling, are gone, the house is empty. Roebuck uses this time to recharge and refuel through prayer and meditation.
The mornings usually begin with Gospel music. Sometimes, that can change to R&B and even rap. Either way, Roebuck is making sure her cup she pours from is full before she can pour into anyone else.
During a call via Zoom, Roebuck smiles as emotions get the best of her when asked about her legacy. She goes back to the times with Uncle Joe. The memories of being that little girl holding the ladder, hoping to one day climb it. And now being the woman who stands atop, directing a band of 300 while realizing the life she now lives, the reality that was once dreams that felt so far off are a mix of manifestation and belief in herself coming to life.
Although she stands on the shoulders of those who paved the way for her, Roebuck has carved her own piece of history at Grambling State University and hopes that her legacy stays with every student she’s had the pleasure of teaching.
“I would like for all of my students who come in contact with me when they leave to know and learn that anything in life is possible if you’re willing to put in the work to make it happen,” Roebuck says.
“Life is a melody and you are responsible for writing that melody.”
The legacy continues with her only son, who is now in the band being led by a proud mother who believed she could, and she did.
Photo Credits: All photos courtesy of Dr. Nikole Roebuck.
Beautifully written…Always love to see a black woman doing her thing!!