SMU was established as the unsuccessful attempt to relocate Southwestern University from Georgetown, Texas, to either Fort Worth or Dallas.
The George W. Bush Presidential Center, including a library and museum, is located on the southeast side of the SMU campus. The museum is joined by the George W. Bush Institute. The library and museum are administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. The institute is privately maintained. SMU has representation on the Institute board.
Notable SMU Alumni: SMU has approximately 110,000 alumni worldwide, with about 40,000 in the Fort Worth/Dallas Metroplex. Notable alumni include: First Lady Laura Bush; former Dallas Cowboy Don Meredith; football players Kyle Rote and Craig James; US House of Representatives members John Culberson, Ralph Hall, Sam Johnson, Eddie Bernice Johnson and Lamar Smith; Nobel Prize-winning physicist James Cronin; University of North Texas Chancellor Lee Jackson; Academy Award-winning actress Kathy Bates; Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Beth Henley; the late television producer Aaron Spelling; Robert H. Dedman Jr., chair, ClubCorp International; David Dillon, chairman and CEO of the Kroger supermarket chain; James R. Gibbs, chair, president and CEO, Frontier Oil Corporation; Ray L. Hunt, chair and CEO, Hunt Oil Company; Kenneth R. Morris, co-founder, PeopleSoft; Melissa Reiff, president, Container Store; Angela Braly, president and CEO, WellPoint, Inc.; Helmut R. Sohmen, chair, World-Wide Shipping Group, Hong Kong; Olympic gold medal swimmers Lars Frolander, Steve Lundquist, and Ryan Berube; and gold medal track and field athlete Kevin Robinzine; the late Lamar Hunt, founder of the American Football League; Jim Irsay, owner and CEO, Indianapolis Colts; the late Payne Stewart, championship golfer; Professional Football Hall of Fame members Raymond Berry, Eric Dickerson, Forrest Gregg, Lamar Hunt and Doak Walker; and Jerry LeVias, National College Football Hall of Fame and NFL Rookie of the Year.
SMU Traditions: Here are some traditions observed by SMU students and alumni:
Athletic Colors
Red and blue. Today's colors are variations on those chosen by SMU's first president, Robert S. Hyer: Harvard Crimson and Yale Blue.
Cheerleading
SMU touts itself as the birth place of modern day cheerleading. Lawrence Herkimer who originated the pom-pom, the spirit stick, the Herkie jump, and founded the National Cheerleaders Association, is an SMU alumni cheerleader.
Mascot
The SMU mascot is a black Shetland Pony, named Peruna. On October 25, 1917, the SMU community voted from among four mascot possibilities - Bison, Greyhounds, Pioneers, and Mustangs. The contributor of the winning symbol was Miss Dorothy Amann, secretary for SMU's president at the time. In the cutest of all cute football stories, Amann was struck by the idea while watching the team practice from her office in Dallas Hall. She remarked, "Why, out there, on the football field, it looks just like a bunch of wild Mustangs!" On November 4, 1932, Peruna I made his first appearance at an SMU football game against Texas A&M University. Named after a potent alcohol-laced "medicine" of the prohibition era, there have been nine Peruna mascots. Peruna’s job used to be to run across the field after every SMU touchdown. In 1996, at the Cotton Bowl, in SMU’s first Western Athletic Conference game vs. Tulsa, the WAC Commissioner told SMU athletic officials that it was not legal and to stop before penalties were given (due to incidents in other conferences, the NCAA reviewed guidelines about mascot safety and decided mascots should not be allowed on the field during the time of play). Since that time, Peruna leads the team onto the field and runs between quarters.
History of the Shetland Pony Mascot
Peruna 1 (1932-34); Peruna II (1934-43); Peruna III (1943-47); Peruna IV (1947-49); Peruna V (1950-65); Peruna VI (1965-86); Peruna VII (1986-97; Peruna VIII (1997-2011); and Peruna IX (2011 - Present).
When not appearing at Mustang events, Peruna runs free in a top-secret location that even his handlers do not know.
There also is a human Peruna, which is a costumed mascot that performs at football and basketball games.
"The Boulevard"
During the football season SMU hosts its own version of a tailgate -- "The Boulevard," which was started by SMU President R. Gerald Turner in 2000. The idea for the Boulevard came from President Turner's time at the University of Mississippi and seeks to create the "Ole Miss Grove." Boulevarding starts about three hours before the game and is shut down thirty minutes after the start on Bishop Boulevard and the Main Quad from Dallas Hall to Mockingbird Lane. It includes tents that have been reserved by student groups, football players' parents and alumni, as well as the Law, Business and Engineering schools.
"The Hilltop"
Dallas may be pretty flat compared to plenty of other areas in the country, but more than a century ago, when SMU's founders set out to find the place to lay the cornerstone of Dallas Hall, they chose the highest point on campus, from where you could look out upon Dallas, toward downtown. From there, the nickname of the "the Hilltop" was born.
"Veritas Liberabit Vos"
SMU's motto, Veritas Liberabit Vos, translated from Latin means "The truth will make you free." Chosen by SMU's first president, it was adopted in 1912 and has been featured in several prominent locations across campus and incorporated into traditional symbols, such as the Official SMU Seal, which is cast into the rotunda floor of SMU's first building, Dallas Hall.
"The SMU Alma Mater"
"SMU Marching Band"
The SMU band is nicknamed "The Hub of SMU Spirit." The band features
90-100 members playing brass instruments, percussion, saxophones and
piccolos. With roots in Jazz performance established by Cy Barcus in the
1920's, the Mustang Band has continued this tradition. The Mustang Band has 32 uniform
combinations of pants, shirts, coats, and ties. Band members wear one
uniform for the pregame performance, then change just before halftime to
another uniform, at all home football games.
"The SMU Alma Mater"
Written by an SMU theology student in 1916 and set to words by SMU's first band director in 1929, Varsity has been sung at University events from Opening Convocation to Commencement to sporting events ever since.
Oh we see the Varsity,
Varsity, Varsity,
As she towers o'er the hill
Over there.
Varsity, Varsity,
As she towers o'er the hill
Over there.
And our hearts are filled with joy,
SMU, SMU,
Alma Mater, we'll be true
Forever!
SMU, SMU,
Alma Mater, we'll be true
Forever!
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