(Old) Alma Mater

This old song appears to have been in use as an early Alma Mater until roughly 1943, when our current song was created, and possibly even afterwards. I was recently told by a friend and class of '51 alum that this tune was well-known on campus and functioned as an Alma Mater song. Yet, like several others on this blog, its been forgotten by most.

(Old) Alma Mater

Hail dear old Guilford,

Thy Loyal sons are we!

And we will ever be

Faithful to thee.

Through the changing clime,

Through all the future time,

Our hearts will always be,

Loyal to thee.

Though years may come and go,

Still will our memories cling

To those dear old college days

Of long ago.

None can compare with thee,

And we will always be,

Until our dying days,

Loyal to thee.

(* Retired professor of history, Alex Stoeson, in his Guilford College: On the Strength of 150 Years, remarked about the irony of the second line,
"Thy loyal sons are we," given Guilford's standing as the oldest
coeducational college in the south and the third oldest in the country.)

Guilford Campus Song

This old song, sung by students in the early days of the 20th Century, seems to have been a campus favorite and may have functioned as an early "Alma Mater" song. Again, this one seems to live only in print.

The Guilford Campus Song

When the shades of evening gather,

Guilford students hied.

To the soft green-swarded campus,

For a time our books laid by.

And the parting rifts of sunlight,

As they linger soft and long.

Shed a hal-low'd gleam of gladness,

On our merriment and song.

Now the songs of dear Old Guilford,

Peal across the downy green.

From Archdale to Memorial,

Span the distance far between;

And the walls of dear old Founders,

The reverberations fling.

From Cox Hall to New Garden,

As our voices gaily ring.

Then across to fair Arcadia,

The chimings wing their flight.

Till across the the far-flung hill-tops,

They kiss heaven's dame of light;

Then as if they rued their boldness,

Back they come in echos gay,

And thus end the winged praises,

Of the Crimson and the Gray.

Alma Mater

Guilford College Alma Mater

Kindly light our founders kindled,

Midst primeval oak and pine.

Let thy radiance truth revealing,

Now upon our spirits shine.

Sacred mem'ries through the archways,

Of the swiftly passing years.

Still undim'd dear Alma Mater,

Strengthen us, dispel our fears.

So our hearts and voices joining,

Echo Guilford's ancient fame,

Hallow'd be thine each endeavor,

Hallow'd be fair Guilford's name.

(* Music by Austin Scott '43; words by Russel Pope.)