| From
the November 3, 2005, edition of 'Northwest News' Newsletter.
by Dana Ternus
One part of college life that
holds true for nearly every institution of higher learning is
the existence of a school song, and Northwest Missouri State University
is no exception.
After it was founded in 1905, State Normal
School No. 5 had a number of student songs that were popular on
campus. But when the normal became Northwest Missouri State Teachers
College, most of those tunes faded away.
Charles A. Gardner, the head of the Music
Department, believed that the new college needed its own song,
and he was determined to create one that could be used to demonstrate
student loyalty year after year.
When classes began in the fall of 1922,
Gardner had a composition in hand and set about introducing it
to the student body. He taught the new song to his music students
and provided each with a copy of the lyrics. Each of those students
made three additional copies and gave them to friends. Those friends,
in turn, were each to create three more copies, and so forth.
By October, the new college song was well
known on campus, and, on Oct. 22, Gardner led a student assembly
in the first official rendition of the Alma Mater.
Originally the song included three verses
and a refrain. Later on, the second verse was deleted.
With winter graduation approaching, now
is a good time for anyone who hasn’t sung the Alma Mater
in a while to reacquaint themselves with the words. Here they
are:
Let your voices loudly ringing, echo far and near,
Songs of praise thy children singing to thy mem’ry dear.
Alma Mater! Alma Mater! tender,
fair, and true;
Grateful sons with love unfailing all their vows renew.
Years may dim our recollection,
Time its change may bring,
Still thy name in fond affection, evermore we’ll sing.
Alma Mater! Alma Mater! tender,
fair, and true;
Grateful sons with love unfailing all their vows renew.
Back
to Snapshot index |