Crimson and Cream: A History of Oklahoma University's Colors and Traditions
The University of Oklahoma (OU), a public research university in Norman, stands out with its traditions. From the crimson and cream colors to the songs played at sporting events. Founded in 1890, it existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the state of Oklahoma. In Fall 2024, the university had 34,523 students enrolled. The university is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities - Very high research activity", with over $416 million in research expenditures across its three campuses in 2022. The main campus in Norman has two prominent museums, the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art and the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History.
The Sooner Nickname
The "Sooner" nickname dates back to when Oklahoma was a territory. There was a famous land run that was open to all settlers. There weren't many rules, except the land was free to anyone who staked a claim during a race. A cannon blast signaled the start. Those who did start on time were known as "Boomers." Those who got an early start and broke the rules were known as "Sooners."
Oklahoma eventually became known as the "Sooner State," and the term came to be associated with a can-do spirit. The school's first teams were known as the Rough Riders or Boomers, but near 1908, the switch started to be made to Sooners, with the booster club named the Sooner Rooters.
The Sooner Schooner
Pulled by ponies Boomer and Sooner, Oklahoma's trademark Sooner Schooner is one of college football's most recognizable traditions. Introduced in 1964, it didn't become an official mascot until 1980. The Sooner Schooner is a replica of the Conestoga (covered) wagons that were often used for transportation by the pioneers who first settled the territory. It is piloted by a member of the Ruf/Neks spirit group, with a Ruf/Neks queen riding alongside.
Boomer and Sooner
Oklahoma's other mascots are costumed horses who wear jerseys. A century ago, from 1915-28, Oklahoma also had a live mascot, Mex the dog. Mex would roam the sidelines of football and baseball games while wearing a red sweater with the letter O. Army medic Mott Keys, who was deployed to Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. When Keys, from Hollis, Oklahoma, attended OU he took Mex with him. When Mex died in 1928, the university closed for his funeral. He's buried somewhere underneath the football stadium.
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The Seed Sower
Standing near the edge of the South Oval on the main campus, the Seed Sower statue is one the school's most recognizable symbols. It represents a parable told by the school's first president, David Ross Boyd, about a seed sower planting the seeds of knowledge. Per football tradition, when Oklahoma learns its bowl destination, the statue is appropriately adorned. For example, a trip to the Orange Bowl resulted in the statue's sack of seeds being filled with fresh oranges.
Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium
Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is also known as its original name, Owen Field, or The Palace on the Prairie. Bernie Owen was the team's coach during the initial construction in 1923. It was renamed to honor the Oklahoma students who died during World War I, while the Gaylord Family contributed millions to the athletic program and the school. From 1970 to 1993, the Sooners played on artificial turf but switched to grass in 1994. The south end has been enclosed since the 2015-2016 offseason, when the stadium was renovated as part a $160 million project dubbed as phase I of upgrading the facility. Phase II has yet to happen. Capacity is now 86,112.
The Songs
There are two that the Pride of Oklahoma marching band will regularly play. The fight song "Boomer Sooner" was borrowed from Yale's "Boola Boola," with some of the lyrics inspired by North Carolina's "I'm a Tar Heel Born."Boomer Sooner, Boomer SoonerBoomer Sooner, Boomer SoonerBoomer Sooner, Boomer SoonerBoomer Sooner, OK U!Oklahoma, OklahomaOklahoma, OklahomaOklahoma, OklahomaOklahoma, OK U!I'm a Sooner born and Sooner bredand when I die, I'll be Sooner deadRah Oklahoma, Rah OklahomaRah Oklahoma, OK U!
Of course, then there's the chorus to the Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical "Oklahoma!" It became the official state song in 1953.Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plainAnd the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweetWhen the wind comes right behind the rain.Oklahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and ISit alone and talk and watch a hawkMakin' lazy circles in the sky.We know we belong to the landAnd the land we belong to is grand!And when we say:Ee-ee-ow! A-yip-i-o-ee-ay!We're only sayin',You're doin' fine, Oklahoma!Oklahoma, O-K!
University History and Campus
The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the state of Oklahoma.
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With the support of Governor George Washington Steele, on December 18, 1890, the Oklahoma Territorial legislature established three universities: the state university in Norman, the agricultural and mechanical college in Stillwater (later renamed Oklahoma State University) and a normal school in Edmond (later renamed University of Central Oklahoma). Oklahoma's admission into the union in 1907 led to the renaming of the Norman Territorial University as the University of Oklahoma.
Norman residents donated 407 acres (1.6 km2) of land for the university 0.5 miles (0.8 km) south of the Norman railroad depot. The university's first president, David Ross Boyd, arrived in Norman in August 1892, and the first students enrolled that year. The university established a School of Pharmacy in 1893 because of the territory's high demand for pharmacists.
On January 6, 1903, the university's only building burned down and destroyed many records of the early university. Construction began immediately on a new building, as several other towns hoped to convince the university to move. President Boyd and the faculty were not dismayed by the loss. Mathematics professor Frederick Elder said, "What do you need to keep classes going? Two yards of blackboard and a box of chalk." As a response to the fire, English professor Vernon Louis Parrington created a plan for the development of the campus. Although much of the plan was never implemented, Parrington's suggestion for the campus core formed the basis for the North Oval.
The campus has a distinctive architecture, with buildings designed in the unique "Cherokee Gothic" style, a term coined by American architect Frank Lloyd Wright when he visited the campus. These buildings are similar to Collegiate Gothic but are built from lighter stones.
In 1907, Oklahoma entered statehood, fostering changes in the state's political atmosphere. Since the university's inception, religion had divided those on campus. Early in the university's existence, many professors were Presbyterian, as was Boyd. Under pressure, Boyd hired several Baptists and Southern Methodists. The Presbyterians and Baptists coexisted but the Southern Methodists conflicted with the administration. Two notable Methodists, Nathaniel Lee Linebaugh and Ernest Taylor Bynum, were critics of Boyd and activists in Haskell's election campaign.
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The campus expanded over the next several decades. By 1932, the university encompassed 167 acres (0.7 km2). Development of South Oval allowed for the southern expansion of the campus. The university built a new library on the oval's north end in 1936. The north campus and airfield were built in the early 1940s as Naval Air Station Norman. The station served mainly an advanced flight training mission and could handle all but the largest bombers.
In the post-World War II demobilization, the university received the installation. The southern portion of south campus near Constitution Avenue, still known to long-time Norman residents as "South Base", was originally built as an annex to the Naval Air Station. It contained mostly single-story frame buildings used for classrooms and military housing. By the late 1980s, most were severely deteriorated and were demolished in the 1990s to make room for redevelopment.
In the post-war period, the university saw rapid growth and a surge in enrollment. By 1965, enrollment had risen over 450% to 17,268, causing housing shortages. In the mid-1960s, three new 12-story dormitories were erected immediately south of the South Oval.
In 1943 George Lynn Cross took over as president of the university. The Civil Rights Movement began a new era as the university began policies against racial discrimination and segregation after legal challenges and court cases outlawed discrimination. National Historic Landmark in commemoration of the cases of G. W. McLaurin, a black man denied admission to graduate school in 1948. A court case effectively forced the Board of Regents to vote to admit McLaurin, but he was directed to study in a separate area within the law library and to be allowed to lunch only in a segregated area. Supreme court in McLaurin vs. Oklahoma State Board of Regents. In 1950, the court overturned the university's policy for segregation at the graduate school level. The case was an important precedent for the more famous and sweeping 1954 case of Brown v. Board of Education.
Since David Boren became president in 1994, the University of Oklahoma system has experienced tremendous growth and purchased 60 acres (0.2 km2) for OU-Tulsa, the new Gaylord Hall, Price Hall, the ExxonMobil Lawrence G. Rawl Engineering Practice Facility, Devon Energy Hall, the Wagner Student Academic Services Center, the Research and Medical Clinic, the expansions of the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, and Headington Hall.
In March 2015, the University of Oklahoma shut down the Oklahoma Kappa chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity when a video surfaced that showed members singing a racist chant as they rode a bus. University of Oklahoma president David Boren gave members two days to leave the fraternity house.
Following the Sooners' 2000 football national-championship season the university experienced an increase in college applicants and admissions. Price Hall, an addition to the Michael F. Price College of Business, was opened in 2005.
The largest school, the College of Arts and Sciences, enrolls 35.2% of the OU-Norman students. The College of Arts & Sciences offers several programs, which include internships and a joint archaeological program (with Saint Anselm College of Goffstown, New Hampshire) in Orvieto, Italy. The next largest school, the Price College of Business enrolls 13%.
The Norman campus has three sections: north campus, main campus, and south campus. All three are connected by a bus service funded by student fees which allows students to park at Lloyd Noble Center and provides 5- to 10-minute service to the main and south campuses. Other regular Norman bus routes provide service to north campus as well as the main campus.
The main campus is bordered by Boyd Street on the north, Timberdell Road on the south, Chautauqua Avenue on the west, and Jenkins Avenue on the east. The Norman campus is centered on two large "ovals." The Parrington Oval (or North Oval as it is commonly called) is anchored on the south by Evans Hall, the main administrative building. This building highlights the "Cherokee Gothic" style of architecture locally derived from the Collegiate Gothic style, the style that dominates and defines the older buildings on the OU campus. The North Oval is bordered on the east by the Oklahoma Memorial Union. On the east side of the northernmost part of campus sits Sarkeys Energy Center while to the west is the Fred Jones, Jr. School of Art and Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art, home to the Weitzenhoffer Collection of Impressionist art and the Catlett Music Center. Just south of Catlett is Goddard Health Center, an on-campus clinic that provides medical care and counseling and testing services to students, faculty, staff, and their dependents. Goddard comprises the OU Health Services laboratory, Counseling Services, Health Promotion, and a pharmacy.
The Van Vleet Oval (or South Oval) is anchored on the north by the Bizzell Memorial Library and flanked by academic buildings. Elm Avenue bounds the western edge of the academic portion of OU, with a few exceptions. Lying between Elm Avenue and Chautauqua Avenue are mostly fraternity and sorority houses. On the east side of the central part of campus lies Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, just north of Lindsey Street on Jenkins Avenue. Immediately adjacent to the stadium is the Barry Switzer Center, a museum highlighting the historical success of Oklahoma athletics, as well as a comprehensive training facility for Oklahoma athletes. North of the stadium is the McCasland Field House, the former home of Oklahoma Basketball and the current home of Oklahoma's wrestling, volleyball and gymnastics programs. Across Jenkins Avenue are the athletic dorms and statues honoring Oklahoma's past seven Heisman Trophy winners.
The portion of OU's main campus south of Lindsey Street includes three colleges, university housing, student activity and fitness facilities, and the Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education. The Joe C. and Carole Kerr McClendon Honors College is in David L. Boren Hall. Adjacent to the residence facilities are the Sarkeys Fitness Center (formerly the Houston Huffman Fitness Center), Henderson-Tolson Cultural Center and the Jim Thorpe Multicultural Center. The Murray Case Sells Swim Complex is also nearby, providing indoor and outdoor swimming opportunities for the OU community.
The Oklahoma Center for Continuing Education (OCCE) is one of eleven W. K. Kellogg Foundation-funded centers in the United States and Britain.
The Oklahoma administration prides itself on the aesthetic appeal of the campus. All three campuses (Norman, Oklahoma City, and Tulsa) have landscaped gardens. In September 2008, it was announced that the University of Oklahoma's main campus will be entirely powered by wind by 2013. According to OU president David Boren, "It is our patriotic duty as Americans to help our country achieve energy independence and to be sound stewards of the environment." The school plans to purchase its energy from the OU Spirit Wind Farm, which is scheduled for construction near Woodward in late 2009.
The Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work was completed on the Norman campus in 2011 and houses facilities for the training of undergraduate and graduate social workers. The 12 million dollar building is named for the Zarrow family, a philanthropic couple from Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Zarrows donated $5 million as the keystone donors for the new building with the remaining funds coming from a bequest of Ruth I. Kaiser Nelson.
On the far north side of Norman is the OU Research Campus-North, which includes University of Oklahoma Max Westheimer Airport (ICAO: KOUN), the Radar Operations Center, the old National Severe Storms Laboratory facility, the OU OKDHS Training and Research Center, and Merrick Computer and Technology Center. OU's College of Aviation runs a programs in the education of future pilots, air traffic controllers and aviation industry professionals.
South of student housing is Timberdell Road, the approximate southern boundary of the university. South of this road are University-owned apartments and athletic complexes. Also on the south side of Timberdell Road is the College of Law building which was expanded in 2002 by the addition of a larger law library and courtroom. There are additional athletic complexes in this area, including L. Dale Mitchell Baseball Park, the OU Soccer Complex, and the Headington Family Tennis Center.
While this area has traditionally lacked academic buildings, the pressure of expansion in the northern part of campus led recently to the construction of new academic buildings-such as the National Weather Center and Stephenson Research and Technology Center-on the south end of campus. Operations Center in One Partners Place, in the research campus one block from the new NWC building. The southern boundary of the research campus is State Highway 9. As of 2013 the Life Sciences Research Center has opened, housing numerous chemical and biochemical research labs. Other buildings on the research campus include One Partners Place, Two Partners Place, Three Partners Place, Four Partners Place, and Five Partners Place.
The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center's main campus is at the Oklahoma Health Center in Oklahoma City, while a secondary Health Sciences campus is in Tulsa. About 3,500 students enroll in one of the seven colleges at the Health Center. The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC), established in the early 20th century, is OU's presence in Oklahoma City. OUHSC is one of only four academic health centers in the nation with seven professional colleges. The nineteen buildings that make up the OUHSC campus occupies a fifteen block area in Oklahoma City near the Oklahoma State Capitol. Surrounding these buildings are an additional twenty health-related buildings some of which are owned by the University of Oklahoma.
Crimson, White, and Blue: Colors of Success
The red, white, and blue colors displayed proudly and prominently nationwide on the 4th of July in celebration of our nation's birthday and strikingly featured on the United States flag are symbolic of the values upon which our country was founded and define our future growth and continuing success as a free nation.
Red is the color most associated with OU's football success. Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium is saturated in crimson for every Oklahoma home game, including 159 consecutive sellouts. The dedicated, crimson-clad Sooner fans that pack the Palace on the Prairie for every OU home game are a giant reason the Sooners have lost just 15 of 160 home games the last 26 seasons, one of the top two or three winning percentages (.906) in college football over than span. The Sooners will host seven opponents at home this season, including conference games with Auburn, Ole Miss, Missouri and LSU.
Two of Oklahoma's nonconference opponents feature red as their school color: Illinois State Redbirds (red and white) and Temple Owls (cherry red and white). The Illinois State game is in Norman and kicks off the season on Aug. 30. The Sooners will travel to Philadelphia to play Temple on Sept. 13, where OU should be the better of the two teams dressed or trimmed in red and pick up a fourth consecutive win to begin the 2025 season.
Alabama is another team on the OU schedule that proudly dons crimson.
The traditional road white uniforms (trimmed in crimson, of course, with crimson lettering) is what the Sooners will be wearing in most, if not all, of their five away games this season, including the annual rivalry game with Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
One other OU opponent, the Kent State Golden Flashes, feature blue prominently in their school colors. If you factor all of this together and toss it into a blender, the colors red, white and blue should play a positive role in helping deliver at least seven Oklahoma wins this season. But an eight, and even a nine-win season, is not out of the question, depending on how all of the chips fall.
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