North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University Director of Band Dr. Johnny B. Hodge Jr. was many things to the many students under his more than two-decade-long leadership of the Blue & Gold Marching Machine. A compassionate father, mentor and friend, Doc Hodge he was also called many other things.

As unyielding as he was unapologetic in his standard of excellence, he knew it and didn’t mind one bit. If you didn’t give your best, he’d let you know about it in a vernacular that you wouldn’t forget. Believing that there were no gains without pains took the Henderson, North Carolina native Johnny Baxter Hodge Jr. from the loving rearing of his paternal grandparents George and Lessie Hodge of Henderson to North Carolina Central University to a long and storied career at A&T. From his arrival on A&T’s campus in 1980, the “small band with a big sound” was Doc’s passion; his musical fury, shared by a group of battle-tested students was unleashed onto unsuspecting rivals and fanbases on any given Saturday afternoon. A driving force in band at historically black colleges during his tenure, Doc leaves behind a legacy of artistic innovation that lives on through his many students and the Marching Machine.