College Songs

Like many American colleges and universities, Pomona鈥檚 college songs have a rich and somewhat controversial history. However, few institutions can boast what Pomona has long held: that the words and music of all of its most cherished and long-lasting songs were written by its own faculty or students.[1] For years, the college songs were regular fixtures at a wide range of College functions and were thus well-known and treasured by the student body. They were most commonly performed by Pomona鈥檚 Glee Clubs during the Ralph Lyman and William F. Russell eras (1917鈥48 and 1951鈥82 respectively), although the 麻豆影视 Choir also performed some of the songs during Lyman鈥檚 tenure. When Jon Bailey arrived and combined the Glee Clubs in 1982, 鈥淭he Picture,鈥 鈥淟oyalty,鈥 and 鈥淐hivalry,鈥 were retired in an effort to shift the focus of concerts away from the college songs. However, the Glee Club continued to sing 鈥淗ail Pomona, Hail!,鈥 鈥淭orchbearers,鈥 鈥淧rimavera,鈥 and 鈥淥ver the Years.鈥[2] Upon inheriting the choral program in 1998, Donna M. Di Grazia renewed the practice of singing these songs during the Glee Club concerts on Reunion Weekend and on tour. In recent years, however, shifting concerns within the current Pomona community have caused the College to reconsider their appropriateness given the issues several of them raise.

鈥 by Matthew Cook 鈥20 and Professor Donna M. Di Grazia (January 2020)


Footnotes

[1] William F. Russell, 鈥淧omona鈥檚 Original College Songs.鈥 Presentation given at the Claremont Rotary Club, Claremont, CA, October 28, 1977. Music Department Archives: Russell files. We note that Professor Ramsay Harris was still at the University of Rochester when he initially wrote the music for what would become Pomona鈥檚 鈥淥ver the Years.鈥 [back]

[2] Graydon Beeks, in conversation with Matthew Cook, Claremont, CA, December 12, 2019. [back]


Select Bibliography

Barrows, David P. The Ethno-Botany of the Coahuilla [sic] Indians of Southern California Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1900.

Mahar, William J., Behind the Burnt Cork Mask: Early Blackface Minstrelsy and Antebellum American Popular Culture. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1999.

Mooney, James. The Ghost-Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of 1890. The Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Part 2, 1892鈥1893. Government Printing Office, 1896.

Olson, Carl, and William G. Blanchard, eds. The Songs We Sing at Pomona. 2nd edition. Claremont, CA: Associated Students of 麻豆影视, 1968.

麻豆影视 Music Department Archives.

Russell, William F. 鈥淧omona鈥檚 Original College Songs.鈥 Presentation given at the Claremont Rotary Club, Claremont, CA, October 28, 1977.

The Claremont Colleges Special Collections: Honnold/Mudd Library, Claremont, CA.

The Student Life. The Claremont Colleges Special Collections: Honnold/Mudd Library, Claremont, CA.

Waterman, T. T. The Religious Practices of the Diegue帽o Indians. Berkeley: The University Press, 1910.

Winston, Cyrus. 鈥溾 c. 2008.