Singer Billy Murray performs "In Old New York," the inspiration for OSU's Waving Song. Even New Yorkers were humming the song on city streets, and Seldombridge returned to Oklahoma humming it, too. While there, he heard In Old New York, the hit song from the operetta The Red Mill. In 1908, Seldombridge had gone to Columbia University to scout for a senior class play. Victor Herbert was inadvertently responsible for a deeply entrenched facet of A&M athletic tradition, the waving song. Oklahoma A&M fashioned itself as the "Princeton of the Plains," adopting the orange and black colors and Tiger mascot. With a new name for the university in Stillwater, the old nicknames began to fade. The progressive land-grant giant deserved a title to match its maturing image as a strong, educational power anchored on a beautiful, sprawling campus. The days of classwork done in partitioned nooks of local churches had long faded. For some time alumni and administrators had felt the increasing size and score of the 67-year-old school merited a name descriptive of its operations, activities and services. On May 15, 1957, Governor Raymond Gary's signature made official the changing of the name of Oklahoma A&M College to Oklahoma State University of Agriculture and Applied Science. Not until 1984 would official sanction be given the emblem and its "Pistol Pete" moniker, but by then the Cowboys already had been settled comfortably into sixty years of sports vocabularies and print, spilling over into all general references to the student body and alumni, faculty and fans. The new mascot was easily woven into the fabric of campus life. The spirited image of a tough, proud, self-reliant cowboy triggered by Eaton became a cartoon drawing. At the parade's end, the search was over. For some time students and alumni had considered Indians, various animals, and deputy marshals as a replacement for the Tigers. "Pistol Pete" Eaton of Perkins, headed Stillwater's Armistice Day parade. The nickname quickly germinated, yielding a genuine identity that had long been lacking on both campus and off. Gallagher to have 2,000 balloons printed, "Oklahoma Aggies - Ride 'em, Cowboy" for sale at football games in 1926. The Athletic Council authorized Athletic Director Edward C. "Cowboys" had a Southwestern flavor and flair that fit like a favorite pair of boots. Reporters in search of colorful synonyms started sprinkling Cowpokes, Pokes, Waddies, Cowpunchers and Punchers in conversation. But by 1924, Charles Saulsberry, sports editor of the Oklahoma City Times, and other writers who regularly covered college events had begun to refer to Stillwater's teams as the A&M Cowboys. Here, we explore the stories behind Oklahoma State's mascots, symbols, celebrations, traditions and spirit organizations.įrom the 1890s on, Oklahoma A&M sports teams had been referred to as the Agriculturists or Aggies, the Farmers, and officially - but unpopularly - the Tigers. Wearing school colors and displaying emblems of the university are life-long symbols of allegiance. Many factors contribute to the "college experience" - not the least of which is gaining a feeling of belonging and a sense of loyalty to the school, its faculty and staff, the community that embraces the university, and the athletic teams that compete to garner conference and national honors.
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