The Banning and Un-Banning of the Alma Mater

On November 8th your Facebook might have been hit by the very popular "Blogger So Dear" article about the Athletic Department asking The Spirit of the Old Gold and Black (SOTOGAB) to stop playing the Alma Mater at the end of sporting events that they attend. SOTOGAB has played the Alma Mater at the end of football games, basketball games, and other sporting events for years and it has became a game-day tradition for the marching band. The chain events that occurred after this decision seemed to happen in a blink of an eye and thankfully the decision was reversed. Here is the time line of the banning and un-banning of the Alma Mater went through social media on November 8th, 2014.

11:11 am. The facebook group named "Save 'Dear Old Wake Forest'" was created by an Alum of Wake Forest University and SOTOGAB. Within a day the group was filled with 984 members of Alums, current students, and fans of Wake Forest. Many posts and comments were made about the beloved tradition of singing and playing of the Alma Mater at the end of football games with the team, student section, and fans joining in. I personally was added to the group at 12:35 pm.

2:04 pm. "Blogger So Dear" posts an article about the Athletic Department's request that SOTOGAB no longer play the Alma Mater at the end of sporting events. Bart Johnston, author of the article "Wake Forest Bans Alma Mater at End of Sporting Events",  lays out their article using the lyrics to the Alma Mater to tell the story of events. This article hit news feeds across the Wake Forest student body and I personally posted it around 4:07 pm that day as well. The article can be found here.

4:16 pm. "Blogger So Dear" releases another article declaring that the "ban" set by the Wake Forest University Athletic Department was pulled. "It was cited that the outpouring from several social media sites and calls fielded already by the Athletic Department made the decision makers aware of how much 'Mother So Dear' means to Wake Forest fans."  states Riley Johnston in their article, Wake Forest Reverses Alma Mater Band Decision, about the reversal of the Athletic Department's decision. This article can be found here.

After a long five hours of back and fourth, it seems that all can go back to tradition as normal. Spirit of the Old Gold and Black members are amazed and thrilled by the support of Wake Forest University fans and students who seem to live for ALL of game day. On November 22nd, the Demon Deacons will host Virginia Tech with the last home game of the season. With all this tension and disruption finally behind us make sure to stay until the last minute for the football team, SOTOGAB, student sections, and fans to join together to sing about Mother So Dear.