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.

“We haven’t decided yet where we’re going to put the original bell,” Texas A&M-Commerce Director of Athletics Jim Curry said. “We’ve got a couple of ideas, but we’re going to put it in a spot of prominence so we can tell the story and connect the bell to the founding of the university.”

Curry describes the bell used during the Lions' game against Grambling as an “interim” bell until a permanent bell is found. 

“We’re discussing whether we want to replicate the (original) bell or do we have enough options close enough to avoid having to cast a new mold,” Curry said. “It will have the same look and feel as the original, and that will be the one we use moving forward.”

After spending a year and a half on the job at Commerce, Curry realized the importance of bringing back the Victory Bell.

“Anytime you’re looking at tradition, you’re trying to connect generations of students and alumni together, and these are the things that do that,” Curry said. “We have tremendous growth as a university. We’re growing our athletics profile, research dollars, and enrollment. With so much growth, you fear forgetting about where we came from, and these types of things bind generations of students and alums to the founding of the university.”

The students have led the return of the Victory Bell. The Traditions Council, in partnership with the athletics department and the Office of Student Engagement, will serve as the bell's primary stewards.

The Victory Bell will ring each time the Lions score a point, and for every point they score following a victory. Fans are encouraged to bring bells to ring as the football team walks through the tailgate area during Victory Walk, on third and fourth down when the defense is on the field, and at other key moments during the game.

“I received a couple of notes today after we put out the release on the return of the Victory Bell, and it’s clear reading these notes that people are happy reinstalling this tradition,” Curry said. “It means a lot across many generations of alums, and that sentiment is clearly found in those notes.”

Another tradition set to return to the field is the Call the Roll following a victory.

Call the Roll began in 1958 and has remained in some form since. However, the head coach decides where the team will Call the Roll, and head football coach and East Texas State alum Clint Dolezel wants to get everyone involved in that tradition again.

“He cares so much about this place, and he wants to win football games,” Curry said. “He cares about the university, and that’s obvious watching him interact with fans and how he approaches every aspect of the program.”

One common thread is the need for the Lions to win each home game so the Victory Bell can ring.

“That’s a bit of a challenge," Curry said. "We want to reintroduce and bring attention to these traditions, but when they’re tethered to wins, you want to be sensitive to how you roll these out. We’re not trying to create any bulletin board material.”

Curry said ringing the Victory Bell is an “earned opportunity.” The Lions hope to earn that opportunity on Saturday.