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A group of Willamette students posed on a stage in front of flowers arranged to spell out "Freshmen Glee."

Freshman Glee

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Written by Jess Kimmel, Class of 2025

One of the longest-lasting student traditions at Willamette University was the Freshman Glee competition, which began in the spring of 1909. Freshman Glee ran continuously every year until its cancellation in 1997, reflecting Willamette’s strong school spirit and the students enthusiasm for friendly competition. An early edition of the Wallulah yearbook boldly stated that the Glee competition was “an event belonging distinctly to Willamette. No other college in the Northwest, and, as far as is known, no other college in the country, has a similar contest.”1 While the veracity of such a claim is far from airtight, Freshman Glee and its corollary tradition of Blue Monday were without question among the University’s most iconic ceremonies in the 20th Century.2

The idea of Freshman Glee came about when a group of freshmen in the Class of 1912 were inspired by Dean Frederic Mendenhall, head of the music school, to challenge the other three classes to a singing competition that required each class to write and perform an original song.3 A 1939 Collegian article described the school at the time as possessing “a certain spontaneity of expression which burst forth in song on the slightest provocation,”4 which naturally lent itself quite well to ensuring that the challenge spread like wildfire. The first Glee competition was held in Waller Hall’s chapel in late February 1909, and was far less coordinated than its successors would be, with contestants in mismatched costume and lacking both the complicated marching formations and musical themes that would become characteristic of the competition, save for a general theme revolving around college life and spirit. Fittingly, the class of 1912 won the first Glee Pennant, and continued on to claim victory in three of the four years. losing only to the sophomores in 1911. R.V. Ellis, one of the original challengers credited with the competition’s origin, was the composer for all of his class’ winning songs. In 1910, the new freshman class repeated the challenge, and so it was that Freshman Glee ascended into the mythos of Willamette tradition.

As Glee became more popular over the years, new venues needed to be found in order to accommodate the growing number of participants and audience members. At first it was moved from the chapel to the Salem First United Methodist Church in 1911, then again to the Salem Armory Auditorium in 1913. In 1923, a new campus gymnasium was built, and became the new home of Freshman Glee for the next several decades. Around the same time, a rotation of themes for each year’s songs was introduced, beginning with “fight” songs in 1923, with later themes including “serenade,” “novelty,” and “alma mater,” further distinguished by sub themes or mottos each year.

The coordination of the competition extended beyond just the performers and songwriters. A student-led planning committee was established during the Fall semester with the appointment of the Freshman Glee manager by the Associated Students of Willamette University (ASWU) Senate. Composed of class managers, elected by their respective classes, and student volunteers, the committee was organized into subcommittees including publicity, programs, tickets, decorations, backdrop, banquet, ushers, and photography. Faculty, staff, and community members contributed through the committee’s collaboration with the university’s publications, food service, and facilities departments, as well as its outreach to faculty and community members to serve as judges. In order to allow ample time for Glee practices, many faculty members would even implement a “dead week” with minimal coursework in anticipation of the contest. The popularity of Glee grew so much that, in 1938, Life magazine intended to showcase photos from the competition.5 Unfortunately, these plans never materialized. Even both World Wars failed to dampen Glee festivities, even though a majority of contestants in 1945 happened to be enrolled in the V-12 Navy College Training Program. 

It would be impossible to discuss Freshman Glee without mentioning Blue Monday, a tradition that began in the early 1920s and would occur on the Monday morning directly following the Glee performance. Members of the losing class would be forced to walk the Millstream, likely in freezing temperatures since the contest was typically held in late winter or early spring.

More importantly, this was the day on which all Glee bets would be paid. Students would bet on winners as well as the placement order of classes in relation to each other, facing a plethora of entertaining punishments if they lost their bets. These punishments ranged from something as simple as cross-dressing for a day to more entertaining and outlandish happenings, such as attending class in a barrel, running across the roof of Matthews complex wearing nothing but jockstraps, or, in a particularly memorable incident, dressing up as the Greek philosopher Diogenes with a lantern, entering a session of the Oregon state senate, and declaring that they were “looking for an honest man, but knew [they] could find none there.” This last occurrence may have been the stuff of legends, or if it was real, may have in fact been a recurring bet, with multiple accounts featuring contrasting details and students of different genders as early as the 1920s. In later years, “human sundaes” became quite popular, along with the practice of tarring and feathering – though it was done with molasses and feathers.

Eventually, rules were made restricting certain behavior in Glee bets, including indecent exposure, excessive alcohol consumption, and involving the general public off-campus. One rule specifically prohibited interfering in the legislature, clearly spurred on by the Diogenes incident.

Related post: Freshman Glee Winners

Freshman Glee nearly died out in the 1960s in a more general rebellion against college traditions as old-fashioned, but due to its immense popularity it was able to persist, albeit with a few changes; the dress code became less strictly gendered, the rotation of themes was dropped altogether, and participation and attendance waned dramatically. In 1975, Glee was moved into the newly built Sparks Center, where it remained until the end of its days. Aside from the weakening of college tradition, Glee’s decline can be attributed to administrative efforts to limit liability issues and general raucousness in both Glee and Blue Monday festivities, making it a far less spirited affair than in days of old. Shortly before Glee’s final demise, a Collegian staff writer argued that it was necessary to “throw liability out for at least one weekend and let loose in a Technicolored display of students having fun.”

Unfortunately, such counsel came too late, and Freshman Glee was canceled just days ahead of its scheduled date on March 15th, 1997, which would have been its 89th Anniversary. The cancelation was due to a lack of sufficient interest, with only fifty students signed up to participate; a far cry from the Glee of old, which had “[crowded] itself out of the chapel, the First Methodist Church, the Salem Armory,” and was forced to “[turn] away large numbers of those who [sought] to witness this student competition in college songs.” The following Monday offered no Millstream walk or fulfilling of bets, and there have been no successful efforts in the years since to revive it. Richard “Buzz” Yocom, an alumnus and long-time associate of the University, as well an avid participant and supporter of Glee, admitted that he had long felt the end of Freshman Glee to be inevitable, but that no one was to blame; “not the faculty, not the administration, not the director of student activities and, really, not the students themselves. It’s trite perhaps to say that it’s the times; trite, maybe, but true.”6

In 1992, the Class of ’42 undertook the task of collecting and organizing an archival collection of Glee materials to celebrate their 50th reunion. The contest was a significant part of their college experience, just as it had been for many students before and after them.  The legacy of Freshman Glee persists in the memory of the alumni who still recall it in all its splendor, as well as in the substantial collection of Glee memorabilia maintained by the University Archives in both print and digital form, including photos, programs, song recordings, and planning materials spanning nearly a century of performances.

Sample Glee Programs from the Archives

Listen to Glee Recordings

Check out the Archives YouTube channel to listen to Glee performances!

Written Spring 2024

Endnotes

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  1. ˆ Gatke, Robert Moulton, and Robert D. Gregg. Chronicles of Willamette. Binfords & Mort, 1943, p. 546.
  2. ˆ LeQuieu, Nate. “Enjoy traditions of the past, keep glee alive and participate.” Willamette Collegian, 28 Feb 1997, p. 9.
  3. ˆ “Monday Blues Sung By Girdled Leader.” Willamette Collegian, 14 Mar 1958, p.3.
  4. ˆ Nelson, Manning. “Class of 1912 Starts Glee in 1909; Ellis Composes Winner.” Willamette Collegian, 3 Mar 1939, p. 1.
  5. ˆ “Singing to the Nation”, Willamette Collegian, 8 Apr 1938, p. 2.
  6. ˆ “Students Say Goodbye to Glee Tradition.” Willamette Scene, 1 May 1997, p. 6.

Works Referenced

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Image Citations

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