Alma Mater and Fight Song

Alma Mater:

The original Alma Mater was sung to the the tune of "Finlandia." The words and music used now were written by two CMU professors. The words were done by Dr. Donald Eidson, an English professor, and the music by Dr. Paul Drummond, the Director of Choral Activities until 2007.

An eagle soars upon the winds of college memories,
Again our hearts beat fast as we Our Alma Mater praise.

Upon on a hill amid the trees, The eagle dared to soar,
Our voices raise with joyous pride, Our Central we adore thee.

Refrain:
Central for ever! We'll sing they praise. Our Alma Mater! To thee our voices raise.

The playing field, the concert hall, And old familiar scenes;
A faculty who care for those Who wear the black and green.

The years may come and go for us, The days too quickly pass,
But Central will remain our Alma Mater to the last.

(Repeat refrain.)

Fight Song:

The original fight song, Hail Victory, was written in the summer of 1938 by Robert E. Stepp, Jr., a band student at Central College. Upon coming back to Central for his 50th anniversary in 1990, he was amazed that we were still using the fight song he wrote. He decided that there needed to be a new fight song written and contacted Dean Keith House, Dean of the Swinney Conservatory of Music, and asked that he find someone to write a new fight song, and that he (Mr. Stepp) would also offer $250 for this commission. Professor House contacted Andy Glover, an 1983 CMU alumnus and current Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Barnhouse Publishing Company, about writing the new fight song.

The new fight song was introduced in 1990 and was added to the original so that CMU actually had two fight songs until 2005, when the new fight song was adopted as the fight song for Central Methodist. The new and current fight song is called Fighting Eagles.

Fighting Eagles

CMU Fight Song

"Fighting Eagles"

Fight onward to our goal
We'll blaze ahead to victory
Our banner waves leading us to triumph
Now let's all shout out our cheer
GO EAGLES!!

We'll fight ever bold and strong
And march on to the goal to win
The brave Eagles will prevail forever
FIGHT FOR CMU!!