MASCOT HISTORY

For years Central had no mascot. In the 1800's each class had its own colors and mottos. However, in 1893 one class adopted green and black as their colors and the entire school chose to use them as the official Central colors. The official Eagles' mascot came in 1914 Central shut out Westminster (Mo.) 53-0 on the football field.

As noted by former CMU President Robert H. Ruff in 1935:
 
"About twenty years ago a farmer saw an eagle whipping a whole flock of blue jays. The bird was injured in the battle and the farmer took it to Central [CMU] for mounting. The crippled bird was nursed by students and became the pet of the campus. That fall Central defeated Westminster fifty-three to nothing on the gridiron of Westminster. The members of the athletic teams of Westminster College, situated in Fulton, Mo., are the traditional rivals of the members of teams of Central College, who are designated The Blue Jays. After this game the students composing the teams of Central College immediately adopted the sobriquet, The Eagles, as their official nickname." (noted on Nov. 22, 1935 from Central/CMU president Robert H. Ruff, as referenced in George Earlie Shankle, American Nicknames: Their Origin and Significance (New York: H.W. Wilson, 1955): 99.)
 
The "Eagle Song" written around 1920 by T. Berry Smith.

The first mascot was "Old Baldy", who was purchased in the late 1920's. He had perched on the football field entrance until the mid 1980's. He was then moved to a permanent home in Brannock Hall.

Other versions of the mascot have appeared throughout the years. One appeared on the official Razzers patch in the 1920's. The traditional mascot costume appeared for the first time in a Ragout in 1979 and has appeared many times since.

SOUND OF CENTRAL

The "Sound of Central" was formed in 1910 by a group of students and was conducted by students until 1925. In 1925, a young man was discovered by E.E. Rich, who was the college's Director of Admissions, in Coin, Iowa. K.K. Anderson came to Central College to finish his college education and direct the band and was told if he proved to be acceptable he would continue to be employed as an instructor. K.K. Anderson was the Director of Bands at Central for 27 years. The first Central marching band had 25 members and quickly gained popularity by playing at all home and away football games, as well as other college functions. "Anderson's Army," as they were known, was soon considered as one of the finest college bands in the state. By 1929, the band had grown to 75 members and was actually three different groups. There was a band dressed in blue uniforms, a band dressed in black sweaters with green emblems, and the only one-of-its-kind girl's band. The band had been on the cutting edge of marching bands by having a separate 25 member girls baton twirling corps, by affixing flashlights to the hats of each bandsman used to spell out words with the lights out. Robert Stepp, the drum major, developed a fire baton and a three-way twirling act in 1938 that was unmatched in Missouri and duplicated by only a few larger universities in the Midwest. The final first was the use of timpani on the football field, a feat only the University of Illinois could also claim in 1949.

The Central Methodist University marching band has a long history of excellence and tradition. The band has performed for the Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Football Cardinals, including the Cardinal game in 1964 that was televised on CBS in which the band performed in a deluge of rain that obliterated the yard lines. The fans were amazed at the band's performance on the muddy turf which caused many to lose their shoes.  Many letters of congratulations came to the band as well as donations from fans and the Cardinals for cleaning of the uniforms and equipment. The band's picture from that performance appeared in a 1965 issue of National Geographic about the 200th anniversary of St. Louis. The CMU Marching Band hosts its annual Band Day competition for high school bands each Fall, which started in 1964 making it one of the state's oldest marching competitions.

The Sound of Central is currently 80 members strong and contains students from many academic majors across the campus.

ALMA MATER & FIGHT SONG

ALMA MATER

The original Alma Mater was sung to the tune of "Finlandia." The words and music used now were written by two CMU professors. The words were done by Dr. Donald Eidson, an English professor, and the music by Dr. Paul Drummond, the Director of Choral Activities until 2007.

An eagle soars upon the winds of college memories,
Again our hearts beat fast as we Our Alma Mater praise.

Upon on a hill amid the trees, The eagle dared to soar,
Our voices raise with joyous pride, Our Central we adore thee.

Refrain:
Central forever! We'll sing they praise. Our Alma Mater! To thee our voices raise.

The playing field, the concert hall, And old familiar scenes;
A faculty who care for those Who wear the black and green.

The years may come and go for us, The days too quickly pass,
But Central will remain our Alma Mater to the last.

(Repeat refrain.)

FIGHT SONG

The original fight song, Hail Victory, was written in the summer of 1938 by Robert E. Stepp, Jr., a band student at Central College. Upon coming back to Central for his 50th anniversary in 1990, he was amazed that we were still using the fight song he wrote. He decided that there needed to be a new fight song written and contacted Dean Keith House, Dean of the Swinney Conservatory of Music, and asked that he find someone to write a new fight song and that he (Mr. Stepp) would also offer $250 for this commission. Professor House contacted Andy Glover, a 1983 CMU alumnus and current Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Barnhouse Publishing Company, about writing the new fight song.

The new fight song was introduced in 1990 and was added to the original so that CMU actually had two fight songs until 2005 when the new fight song was adopted as the fight song for Central Methodist. The new and current fight song is called Fighting Eagles.

"Fighting Eagles"

Fight onward to our goal
We'll blaze ahead to victory
Our banner waves leading us to triumph
Now let's all shout out our cheer
GO EAGLES!!

We'll fight ever bold and strong
And march on to the goal to win
The brave Eagles will prevail forever
FIGHT FOR CMU!