“Wanted – A College Song”

In November of 1908, it was decided that State Normal and Industrial College (now The University of North Carolina at Greensboro) should have a school song. The small woman’s college opened its doors in 1892, and although class songs, cheers, and poems were popular with the students, the school did not have an official Alma Mater. An alumnae committee was established to select a song and decided to hold a competition, which was publicized in the State Normal Magazine. In an announcement titled, “Wanted – A College Song,” the committee offered a prize of “ten dollars in gold” to the person writing a song that best represented the “spirit of the college.” Words could be adapted to an established song, or an original composition could be submitted, in which cases “musical critics” would be called in as judges.

Laura Weill

Although there was no immediate response to the competition, Wilmington native, Laura Weill (Class of 1910), did submit a song shortly before her graduation.  Incorporating a tune by W. A. White that she discovered in an anthology of college songs, Weill penned “The College Song,” with a focus on loyalty and the school’s devotion to service. Service had always been an important part of State Normal’s mission, but it was the motto of the Class of 1910 and they “willed it” to the college during graduation. It was during the May 1910 Commencement ceremony that the song was first performed, and was thereafter incorporated into the college handbook and other campus publications, including “Twenty-Five Songs for Community Singing,” which included patriotic songs such as “The Star Spangled Banner” and “The Old North State,” as well as folk tunes like “Barbara Allen” and “My Old Kentucky Home.” Belle Kornegay (Class of 1918) later arranged the composition for sheet music.

"The College Song" Score

After the college became co-educational in 1963, there was discussion that the song should be replaced with a more relevant choice. The argument came up again in the early 1980s. Ultimately, it was decided that Weill’s song would be kept, although the words would be adapted to include, “your sons and daughters” and “university,” reflecting the more diverse student body. The renamed “The University Song,” is still played at Commencement and other university events.

The words, written by Laura Weill, are as follows:

We raise our voices; let them swell
In a chorus loud and strong;
The rolling hills send back the sound
Of our triumphant song.
For in one great unbroken band
With loyal hearts and true,
Your daughters stand, and hand in hand
Sing college dear to you.

Our college days run swiftly by
And all too soon we part;
But in the years that are to come
Deep graven on each heart
Our motto, “Service,” will remain,
And service we will do,
And as we serve, our hears will turn,
O college dear, to you.

Dear Alma Mater, strong and great,
We never shall forget
The gratitude we owe to you—
A never-ending debt.
All honor to your name we give,
And love we pledge anew,
Unfailing loyalty we bring,
O college dear, to you.

Ringing "Glad Tidings": A History of the University Bell

On October 5, 1892, when the doors of the State Normal and Industrial School officially opened for instruction, the women enrolled were called to classes by the chiming of the University Bell. Originally, the bell stood near the location of the current Alumni House. It was used wake students in the morning, call them to breakfast and other meals, and alert them to the start of the school day. Ezekiel Robinson was typically the person tasked with ringing the bell during the earliest years of the school.

Ezekiel Robinson with the campus bell, 1910

Standing near the site of the current Alumni House, the bell also was used in cases of emergencies or special announcements. In 1897 when the State Normal students learned that the school was receiving increased appropriations from the state legislature (twice the amount received the previous year!), "a hundred or more young ladies started for the Normal bell to ring out the glad tidings." Students kept the bell ringing for nearly half an hour.

When the Brick Dormitory caught fire in the middle of the night in 1904, the bell rang to wake sleeping students and get them to safety. Josephine Scott, a student from Alamance County, ran to ring the bell and hasten the evacuation. After ringing the bell a few times, the rope used broke. According to a classmates' recollection, Scott then climbed the wooden frame of the bell tower to ring the bell with her hands until all of the students had safely left the building.

After the destruction of Brick Dormitory and the construction of Spencer, the bell was moved to a site closer to the new residence hall (across College Avenue from where Jackson Library sits today). When electric bells were installed in the campus buildings, the use of the bell on a daily basis was discontinued. But students still used it as a meeting place for groups and celebrations. On student government election nights, the winning group would meet at the bell to begin their festivities. 

Then, on a Saturday night in January 1938, the bell was taken down and tucked away in a storage room on campus. There it sat until members of the Class of 1923 decided it needed a more prominent location and a more prominent role in ongoing campus life and traditions.

The bell hanging in Students Anniversary Plaza, 1968

When the Class of 1923 held their 30th reunion in 1953, the class president implored that something be done to preserve "a certain bell dear to the memory of the alumnae." Small paper bells were distributed at the class luncheon, and alumnae were encouraged to contribute funds to the "bell fund." Shortly after that reunion, the bell was removed from storage and placed in a more prominent location at the college entrance from Spring Garden Street.  One small change was made to the bell, however. The clapper was removed because administrators "felt that placing the bell intact, so close to Curry School [the teaching school on campus], might be too great a temptation to the Curry children."

In 1967, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the university's opening, the student body of 1967 donated $15,000 to build Students’ Anniversary Plaza at the corner of Spring Garden and College Avenue (the site of founding president Charles Duncan McIver's home). A brick "modernistic arch" was designed by Charles Bell, superintendent of ground at UNCG. The bell was bronzed and mounted under the arch in 1968.

The bell remained in that location until 1987 when it was removed for restoration. It is currently stored in the Alumni House, but the bell is brought out for every commencement. At the end of the ceremony, the bell is rung to honor the new graduates. As it first rang to welcome students to the new State Normal and Industrial School, it now rings to honor our newest alumni.

Commencement time at State Normal

On Friday, May 9, thousands of newly minted graduates of UNCG participated in their graduation ceremony at the Greensboro Coliseum. This marked the 121st commencement hosted by the institution since its opening as the State Normal and Industrial School in October 1892.

Commencement invitation, 1893

The first commencement ever held at State Normal took place on May 23-24, 1893. Ten women received diplomas. Although the students had been at State Normal for only one year, they were able to graduate in 1893 due to high scores on placement tests. In fact, all but one of the members of the Class of 1893 had already graduated from another college.


The diplomas earned in the earliest years at State Normal, though, were not bachelors degrees. It would not be until 1903 that State Normal would issue bachelors degrees on par with those issued by other colleges. Instead, the degrees earned in 1893 represented completion of a more limited curriculum, more on par with a modern high school program. The diplomas did, however, represent a lifetime license to teach in public schools in North Carolina.

The commencement ceremony featured a number of speakers, including Governor Elias Carr, who opened the ceremony by congratulating the graduates along with the officers of the school on the success of their first year of operation. Rev. T.H. Pritchard then delivered the commencement sermon, which focused on the second chapter of Exodus. George T. Winston, president of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, provided the commencement address on "The Education and Sphere of Women." According to one newspaper report, Winston's address "was a gem, full of solid reason and sound sense."

Finally, State Normal founder and president Charles D. McIver presented the ten students with diplomas and delivered his address to the crowd. McIver congratulated the students, but cautioned them that the diplomas came with added responsibilities, both to their future students and to the state. He warned, "your obligations to the State are greater than they were a year ago ... North Carolina has a right to a return on her investment, and she desires it to come in the form of womanhood, patriotic citizenship, and your very best professional service in the field of education."

The Class of 1893, with McIver and Edwin Alderman

In addition to the ceremony featuring the awarding of the diplomas, the two-day commencement celebration also included music from the school's Glee Club as well as performances by others in the student body. Additionally, the Physical Culture department conducted two demonstrations in the school's Gymnasium (located at the time in the upper level of the Main - now Foust - Building). To conform to standards of propriety, the Physical Culture demonstrations were limited to "lady visitors" who were "admitted upon presentation of cards."

Commencement festivities only grew in the following years, with many of the early commencement attendees noting that President McIver was always excited at commencement time. In 1894, he brought politician William Jennings Bryan to speak at commencement only two years before Bryan launched his first run for the U.S. presidency. Future years also saw famous politicians and prominent academics speak at State Normal's commencement. While the Class of 1893 consisted of only ten women, their commencement ceremony marked the start of a long tradition of graduates who would make major contributions to North Carolina (and beyond).