Skip to main content

Pride of Oklahoma

May 20, 2013 | Men's Gymnastics

The Pride of Oklahoma Marching Band has been supporting Sooner Spirit for nearly a century. Unlike many other college bands, which began as military drill units, the Pride of Oklahoma had its beginnings as a pep band.
 
In the early years of the 1900s, both townspeople of Norman and students of OU participated in a band that played for football games. 
 
Professor John Merrill started the first band in 1901, which was composed mostly of townspeople and disbanded after each football season. Lloyd Curtis founded the first continuous student band in 1904.
Today, the 300-member Pride of Oklahoma has members representing virtually every college and major on campus. The Pride of Oklahoma stands for excellence in musicianship, academics, school spirit, and commitment to our role in the surrounding community.
"Boomer Sooner" rings out at the end of each rehearsal, and that song is still the defining element of the University of Oklahoma. 
 
Maybe that is why Sooner fans love the band so much: There is nothing that can compare to the first "go-go" at a football game when the Pride of Oklahoma marches the interlocking "OU" down the field playing "Boomer Sooner.
 
Visit the official site of the Pride of Oklahoma