A school as deep in tradition as the Ohio State features a seemingly never-ending supply of greatness. That greatness can come in many ways, such as in academics, within the marching band, in college sports, and in long-time school traditions! This is what makes Ohio State stand out from other schools.

Well, as we speak of traditions, nowadays, if you’re anywhere in Columbus, in fact, anywhere in the United States, you could shout “O-H!” and get an “I-O!” in reply from any stranger passing by. The “O-H! I-O!” Chant is arguably the most famous tradition for the Ohio State and the Buckeyes. But, there is another tradition which is the oldest one at Ohio State. You might be wondering, Which one? Let’s find out.

What is “Carmen” of Ohio State?

Well, if you’re not familiar with “Carmen Ohio” it’s a Buckeyes tradition, in fact, the oldest in their history. The song is sung repeatedly on game days, it starts with the Skull Session, then prior to kickoff, followed by another time after the game with the whole Buckeyes squad locking arms and facing the band.

It goes like, “Oh come, let’s sing Ohio’s praise/ And songs to alma mater raise.” The sense of pride while swaying and singing the song along with 100,000 of your own, is surely a sight to behold! The song has been a match-day staple for the Buckeyes no matter a win, lose, or a draw! With that being said, let’s dive into the history of how “Carmen Ohio” came into being.

How did “Carmen Ohio” come into existence?

Well, to know how this tradition started, you need to understand the meaning of “Carmen”. It’s a Latin word which means “song”, so the title literally translates to “Song of Ohio”, adding another layer of history to the tradition. So, you might be thinking, how did the oldest tradition at Ohio State start? The answer to this is, Carmen was first performed by the Glee Club in 1903.

This came after a four-letter athlete and Glee Club singer Fred Cornell re-wrote the lyrics to an old Christian H Bateman hymn titled “Come Christians, Join To Sing“. Now, we get to the tricky part of how Cornell got this idea.

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According to a few people, the story behind the now-famous and beloved song dates back to 1902, when Ohio State played Michigan, referred to as “The Game” by many. On that day, Michigan truly annihilated the Buckeyes, defeating them 86-0! Fred Cornel,l who was in attendance for this humiliating defeat at Ann Arbor, on his way back on the train, began to compose the lyrics of this song, Inspired by the poor defeat and also after hearing the Wolverine crowd cheer their heroes by signing “The Yellow and Blue“. Cornell took it upon himself to pen a rhym for his alma mater.

While others say that he came up with the lyrics at the Glee Club’s request in 1903. We’ll stick with the Ann Arbor story just for the thrill of it all! The song gained its popularity in 1906 when it was featured in the Ohio State-Michigan game. After this, it became attached to the school as in 1955, the brass band adapted the song with director Jack Evans and arranger Richard Heine in reigns and added the sound of chimes from the Ortan Hall bell tower as an introduction. Giving birth to yet another Ohio State tradition. Over the years it has helped hundreds of thousands of Buckeyes to be a part of something bigger than themselves, that’s where the real beauty of it lies!