Alumni of East Texas State have been clamoring for the return of some of the school’s beloved traditions since the name was changed to Texas A&M-Commerce in 1996. The university announced one of those traditions, the Victory Bell, will return when the Lions host Grambling on Saturday in their home opener.

The Victory Bell dates back to 1895 when William Leonidas Mayo moved East Texas Normal College from Cooper, Texas, to Commerce following a fire that destroyed the original site. Legend has it, Professor Mayo used the bell to call students to class. If Mayo had his way, the Victory Bell would likely have never appeared at any football game.

That’s because Mayo was not a fan of football. He disapproved of its violent and dangerous aspects. However, Mayo’s son, Marion, was a football fan, and he organized a football team to practice off-campus after gaining approval from his mother, Henrietta. Ironically, Lucky the Lion was later selected as the team's mascot as a tribute to the middle name of the university’s founder. 

Due to Professor Mayo's opposition, the Lions were forced to play a bootleg schedule for the first few years. Marion Mayo led the Lions to a 3-0-1 record in the program’s first season in 1914, with all three games against Commerce High School. B.H. Miller took over for Mayo as head coach for the 1915 season, and the Lions began playing college opponents, including a scoreless tie against SMU to close the campaign.

The Victory Bell became a staple at football games in the early 1930s. The bell rang each time the Lions scored a point during the game. Following a win, the cheerleaders would ring the bell for every point the Lions scored that day. 

However, the bell stopped working sometime around the early 1960s. Sports Illustrated featured the Victory Bell in a 1964 article, but it appears the bell was not operational at the time of the story. The article says, “The old victory bell…was once rung for all these football victories. There were so many that the clapper wore out.”

Today, the original bell still resides on campus in front of Ferguson Hall on Education Drive. The bell will soon be refurbished and placed in a different location.