FAQ: Gallaudet Bison: Origin, Statue, Song, etc.

Origin

For decades, the athletic teams of what is now Gallaudet University used a variety of names. Initially, Gallaudet College teams were mostly known as the "Kendalls", after the campus's name of Kendall Green. Kendall Green in turn got its name from Amos Kendall, the philanthropist who founded the University on his Washington, DC estate, and donated the grounds upon his death.

When the Kendall School for the Deaf (the elementary school program) was administratively separated from the College during the early 20th century, the College teams switched to the name "Blues". This apparently derived from the school colors of "buff and blue". Those colors probably came from the colors of the floor tiles in what was then the college's main building, College Hall. The tile colors in turn are traditionally said to represent the colors of an American soldier's uniform from the Revolutionary War.

During the 1930s and into the early 1940s, there was some feeling in the Gallaudet student body that the "Blues" name was not "tough enough," and did not adequately represent the team's fighting spirit.

Eric Malzkuhn (Class of '43) was editor of the sports column in the student newspaper, The Buff and Blue, during his time as a student. In a 1941 column, he proposed changing the team name from the "Blues" to the "Blue Bisons". The proposal was not formally voted on, but according to Malzkuhn many years later, "when nobody complained, it became a fait accompli." In his November 7, 1941 column, he announced the new name's appearance as Gallaudet's basketball team played its first game of the season.

Malzkuhn said later that, as a sportswriter, he had been "frustrated at the limited linguistic capabilities offered by the [old] Gallaudet nickname." In his column, he mentioned two reasons for choosing "Blue Bisons": "...partly because a bison suggests, at the same time, both power and fleetness, and partly because such a name enables a sportswriter to give free rein to his imagination in coining such headlines as 'Bisons Blast Siwash,' 'The Thundering Herd Tramples over Nostalgia,' and 'Buffaloes Bluff State.'" The "Blue" prefix was probably retained to maintain a continuity with the original "Blues" identity.

However, the new name did not immediately stick. Issues of The Buff and Blue starting in late 1941 show some flip-flopping back and forth among the old "Blues" name, "Blue Bisons", and plain "Bisons," before finally settling down to simply "Bisons" after 1958.

Soon after that, a decision to drop the "s" was made by a later Buff and Blue editor. Malzkuhn had "used Bisons rather than Bison because when I thought of Bison, I thought in the singular...a lone, forlorn Bison, standing in a field. Bisons brought forth a thundering herd, destroying all in its path." Nevertheless, through continuous use, the singular form "Bison" has become the standard form for Gallaudet University's sports teams today.

Source: The Buff and Blue, various issues 1941-1958; Correspondence with Eric Malzkuhn, May 2005.

Who's inside the Bison mascot costume?

The Bison costume is worn by any of several different Gallaudet University students. No one person is the "permanent" or "regular" Bison mascot.

Bison Statue

A welded-steel sculpture representing a Bison stands in front of the Gallaudet University Field House. It was created by sculptor Ben Williams of Livingston, Montana. The sculpture was seen there and bought by the founder and president of J. W. Kaempfer Company, a D.C.-area developer of office buildings. His company used it for about 9 months in 1986, set up next to Interstate 66 in Rosslyn, Virginia, accompanying a real-estate advertising sign. Then-president of Gallaudet University, Dr. Jerry C. Lee, spotted it there and thought the perfect place for the bison sculpture would be at Gallaudet University. He persuaded Kaempfer to lend it to the University. A couple of years later, Gallaudet bought the sculpture outright, and it has guarded the Field House ever since.

The 500-pound, unpainted sculpture is made from special Cor-Ten steel, which is purposely allowed to develop a coat of rust that prevents further rusting. Similar steel is used in many bridge girders and other applications where people want to avoid the need for periodic repainting. The sculptor took advantage of the rusty color and texture to suggest the color and hair of a real bison.

Source: On the Green, vol. 17 no. 4, October 27, 1986, p.1.

Howard University Bison

Many people have noticed that nearby Howard University also uses the "Bison" name for its team, and in fact Howard has had the name for longer than Gallaudet. Malzkuhn has said in recent years that when he proposed "Blue Bisons" back in 1941, "I was not aware that Howard U. had the same nickname."

Howard University is a traditionally Black university. It was founded in 1867 as a federally-supported college for African Americans, in very much the same way that Gallaudet was founded in 1864 as a federally-supported college for the deaf. During the era of racial segregation, Howard and Gallaudet never played games against each other, and so the duplication of team names was never an issue.

After desegregation in the 1950s, Gallaudet and Howard started meeting each other on the athletic fields. It seems that neither school was willing to give up the "Bison" name. Howard rightfully claimed first use of the name, but many Gallaudet students were resistant to having to change the name again so soon. The Gallaudet Student Body Government ran a debate and vote in 1954-1956 on whether or not Gallaudet should change its team name to avoid duplication with Howard University. The decision was to stay with the name, and so to this day, whenever Gallaudet plays against Howard, there are two "Bison" teams on the field/court/track.

Source: "Bison" folder in Gallaudetiana file, Gallaudet University Archives; Correspondence with Eric Malzkuhn, May 2005.

Bison Song

The Bison Song was originally written in 1960, in English, by Gallaudet student Dorothy Squire Miles (Class of '61). It is, of course, presented in American Sign Language (ASL) during Gallaudet events instead of in spoken or sung English. Each year, auditions are held among the students for one female and one male performer to lead the Bison Song at Gallaudet games.

The ASL version's words have diverged from the original English over the years. This is probably in part from a student desire for a more "aggressive" song, and probably in part from the annual performers' desire to imprint their own stamp on the song. Following are Miles' original 1960 English version of the Bison Song, a 1980s ASL version, and an ASL version from around 2002. The latter two have been "glossed" into English words.

Dorothy Miles' original Bison Song

Hail, hail, mighty Bison spirit!
Hail to Gallaudet's flag
Its colors are buff and blue.

We challenge the four corners of the world
While we fight, aim, fight to pull our team through
Even though all along we are frustrated.

We are being beaten, we are losing. We wait.
We wait. As the sun rises, we practice.
The sun comes up, the sun goes down.

We practice.
All night, all morning.
It's time for the game.

Throw that whistle away.
We hear nothing.
Why? Why?
We are deaf.

Our team, our big team cooperates,
Rah, rah, rah, we support our team.
We love our mighty Bison.

Up the proud Tower Clock pole is Gallaudet's flag,
Its colors are what? Of course, buff and blue.

1980s ASL version in English gloss

(This version is a synthesis of two slightly different versions.)

Hail to our mighty Bison spirit [snort 2, then 3 times],
Hail to our Gally flag,
Its colors buff and blue [clap 2, then 3 times].

All our enemies afraid of our Gally boys,
Because our Gally boys give them
Damn, damn, damn, hell, hell, hell [clap 2, then 3 times].

See how our tall, short, fat, thin, fast, slow,
Ugly, good-looking Bisons [snort 2, then 3 times]
See how our Gally flag
Its colors buff and blue [clap 2, then 3 times]
Challenge the world its four corners
While fighting, aiming, fighting to pull group through.

Even though our Gally boys
Hit, hit, frustrated, frustrated, slump, slump,
What-if our victory seems not possible?

Wait, wait, wait, our Gally boys are always
Willing to fight stubborn fight
From sunrise to sunset [clap 2, then 3 times].

So hail to our mighty Bison spirit [snort 2, then 3 times],
Hail to our Gally flag its colors,
What? Of course, buff and blue [clap 2, then 3 times].

Our boys ready group line go
Referee blow, boys hear-no, DEAF!

And yet we all cooperate, cooperate, cooperate,
Yell, yell, yell, to support our group through.

ASL version circa 2002 in English gloss

[Clap]
Hail-hail-hail our mighty Bison spirit
Hail to Gallaudet flag its colors,
What? Buff and blue.

All-all-all our enemies-enemies
Scared group Gallaudet,
Why? We 'dry' worn them,
Damn-damn, hell-hell!

[Clap]
Look that group tall and short,
Fat and thin, ugly and cute Bison,
Same look Gallaudet flag its colors
What? Buff and blue.

[Clap]
Challenge-challenge world its 4 corners
While we fight-aim-fight pull group through,
Even-though all-along, all-along, all-along
We frustrated, frustrated, frustrated, frustrated.
Head-off, slapped-face, finished and down.

Wait-wait-wait-same we fight, stubborn, fight
Sunrise, sunrise, sun up-up
Group practice-practice-practice
Sun across-across-across-across
Hustle-hustle-hustle-hustle
Sun down-down, sun set-set
Same practice-practice, continue
All-night-night, all-morning-morning.

[Clap]
Now true business game
QB throw, whistle...hear none, why? why?
We deaf-deaf-deaf!
Group-group-group-big-group 'cooperate'
Rah-rah-rah support group through.

[Clap]
Kiss-fist our mighty Bison
Proud Tower Clock pole,
Look Gallaudet flag, its colors,
What? Buff and blue.

[Step back 3 times]
[Nose-blow smoking]
['U' kissfist on chest, fist on chest]
[Bison symbol*].

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* A "Y" made on the forehead, palm out.
      A different sign also exists: both hands in "O" shapes, placed thumb sides against the sides of the forehead, then moved out and forward in curved paths while simultaneously closing the hands into fists, as if sliding them along curved and tapered bison horns.

Source: "Bison" folder in Gallaudetiana file, Gallaudet University Archives.