| From
the Sept 1, 2005, edition of 'Northwest News' Newsletter.
by Dana Ternus
All over campus, students, faculty members
and staff proudly wear Northwest’s school colors –
green and white. But it was not always so.
The first colors, chosen by what was then
the Fifth District Normal School, were red and white. This caused
considerable consternation among the student body because the
same hues were used by Maryville high school. A number of normal
school students made it clear they were opposed to similarities
that linked the two institutions in the public’s mind.
It didn’t take long for the process
of picking new colors to get underway. Hettie Anthony, head of
the Domestic Science Department, and Frank Zimmerer, head of the
Art Department, served on a committee charged with making a recommendation.
The now-familiar green and white scheme was
approved in the fall of 1910. Pennants, rings and pins sporting
the new colors were available that spring.
A third color, black, was suggested in 1926
by coaches H. Frank Lawrence and Paul Jones. The two men presented
a petition to President Uel W. Lamkin requesting that black become
the school’s “base” color with green and white
remaining as subordinate shades.
The coaches had two main reasons for the
proposed modification. They argued that clothing made of green
cloth tended to fade, and that adding a third color would make
the college unique.
Soon the Student Council was debating the
matter heartily. Almost an entire issue of the “Northwest
Missourian” was filled with student and alumni responses,
which were mostly negative.
After two weeks of discussion, the council
unanimously rejected the petition. Northwest had recently captured
an MIAA championship, and a winning season did not bode well for
change. The coaches were victims of their own success.
So fly your flags and wear your sweatshirts
proudly. It looks the green and white is here to stay.
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