Illinois Loyalty


"Illinois Loyalty", also known as "We're Loyal to You, Illinois" or just "Loyalty," is a song associated with the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. It is the school's alma mater. It is also used as the school's fight song.

History

Thacher Howland Guild came to the University of Illinois from Brown University in September 1904 as an instructor of rhetoric. With him he brought an unfinished song which he intended to be used at a college. Guild spent his next year at the university working on the first part of what would become "The Illinois Loyalty Song" and also joined the Marching Illini in the cornet section, where he would meet Albert Austin Harding, a student recently promoted to director of bands. In the early months of 1906, Guild added the cheering interlude and second part of the song. Harding arranged Guild's song for the Marching Illini just in time for its anniversary concert on March 3, 1906. It was first published in 1907 by the U. of I. Supply Store under the name "The Illinois Loyalty Song." Since then, the song has been used nearly universally as a song to evoke school spirit and represent the University of Illinois.
One of the driving forces of purchasing a chime for the university was the desire to hear "Illinois Loyalty" ring out on the instrument. After funding for a thirteen-bell chime had been secured in the middle of 1920, Dean Thomas Arkle Clark asked the purchasing committee if it could play the melody of "Illinois Loyalty." As it turned out, this would require an additional two bells, and he blocked the purchase until an additional $2,500 was raised. In short, the Altgeld Chimes were configured specifically to play the melody of "Illinois Loyalty."
In the early 1930s, the status of "Illinois Loyalty" as a school song became a point of controversy. Students debated whether fans in the football stadium should stand up during performances of "Hail to the Orange." Others argued that students should only stand when "Illinois Loyalty" is played, which they claimed is the official alma mater song. These arguments continued with no conclusion until November 1958, when the Men's Independent Association and the Interfraternity Council urged university president David Dodds Henry to replace "Illinois Loyalty" with "Hail to the Orange" as the official alma mater song. It was discovered from this letter that "Illinois Loyalty" was never officially recognized by the university, but rather "For Good Old Illinois" by Vernon Thompson Stevens was recognized in 1916. President Henry believed that legislation of the issue could only occur when all interested groups have engaged in widespread discussion and come to an agreement. In February 1959, he asked the Alumni Board of the Alumni Association and the university's Student Senate to begin the discussion. By March, President Henry announced that the university would not be making any decisions regarding official school songs. "Illinois Loyalty" and "Hail to the Orange" would remain in competition with "For Good Old Illinois" for the title of "official alma mater song."
Prominent composers who wrote marches for the University of Illinois include John Philip Sousa, Edwin Franko Goldman, Karl L. King and Earl E. McCoy. Words were added to the Goldman march by Guy Duker and the King march by Ray Dvorak. Chicago composer and arranger Harry L Alford composed "March of the Illini", "Glory of the Gridiron" and several march paraphrases of well-known songs on commission from Director of Bands Albert Austin Harding. These include "My Hero" by Oscar Straus and "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise" by Ernest Seitz which featured the entire Marching Illini euphonium section.

Lyrics

The words of the song as listed in the 1906 program are shown below. The original publication includes optional replacements for sections of the lyrics, such as replacing "Victory" with "Touchdown," or "crack out that ball" with "smash that blockade," however, they are not shown here.

Media

The Marching Illini plays "Illinois Loyalty" at the beginning, middle, and end of football games, as well as other games the band attends.
The music is included in the "Illini Fantasy," a medley of Illinois songs and marches arranged for concert band by James Curnow in 1970 as a commission from Director of Bands Harry Begian.
The University Summer Band plays "Illinois Loyalty" at the close of each of its Twilight Concerts on the Quadrangle in June and July.
The song is frequently performed during chime concerts on the Altgeld Chimes.
The song is now used by a number of high schools in Illinois:
It is also used in high schools of several other, mostly Midwestern states: