HISTORY and TRADITION

The Founding of Gridiron Club 

The organization Gridiron Club, Phillips University, was formed in the fall of 1922 near the end of the football season.  The need for such an organization, whose purpose was to promote a closer fellowship between the football team and the other men on campus, had long been felt by some of the older students.  Football was a principal sport at the university and was certainly on the mind of every student because Phillips was enjoying one of its greatest seasons.  So it was with a keen pride in the accomplishments of the team and its coach in bringing the state championship to the Phillips campus, coupled with the desire to honor them that led sixteen fellows to meet at Old Main on November 17, 1922, to form this club.

The first officers chosen were: Jones Graves, President; Emory Cameron, Vice President; Carl Ransbarger, Secretary and Jeff Stone, Treasurer.  Others who had a leading hand in the formation of Gridiron were Orman Shelton, Vic Wellman, Ed Michael, Steve England, Ross Griffith, Howard Reid, Gil Brawner, George Horne, Merle “Mub” Williams.  Soon after the club was formed and its purposes announced several other men immediately joined and of course it was understood that all members of the football squad would become members automatically…

To accomplish the purpose set out by charter members of the newly formed Gridiron Club, a banquet was given to honor the football team and their coach.  Details of the program have long been forgotten.  However the good fellowship which prevailed throughout the evening will always be remembered by those who were present.

It is most gratifying to know that Gridiron has grown to prominence on the campus through the years, although football has been discontinued as an interscholastic sport at the university; that it is still serving as a means of drawing men together in close fellowship to promote the traditional Phillips spirit.

(Prepared by Carl Ransbarger, Secretary 1922-23, for the celebration of Gridiron’s 50 year anniversary.)

More on The Founding of Gridiron Club

The following is an excerpt from “In a Tall Shadow” a biography of  Stephen J. England. 

George England, Phillips Graduate Seminary Press, 1990.

In Dad’s second year of study, in the spring of ’23, he and two student friends, Emory Cameron and Jones Graves, founded Gridiron Club, the first service club for men on the campus.  One of the rules that Phillips started with in 1907 and maintains to this day (1990) was the prohibition against Greek letter social fraternities and sororities.  The founders believed that such organizations were discriminatory and contrary to the principles of Christian education for which the university stood.  Attempts had been made by such organizations to organize on the campus, both openly and secretly, but the school stood firm and resisted all such efforts.  Two service clubs for women had been created, the Red Peppers and the Zontas, but the men had not organized until Stephen England arrived on the scene.

Phillips had been quite successful in football: in 1920 the school had been invited to join the Southwest Conference after it had beaten Texas University 10-0 in Austin! Dad and his two cohorts loved football, and they saw the need for an organization to boost the team’s and student’s morale.  Beyond that, however, Dad had a personal motivation.  He recognized the social gap between athletes and students in the College of the Bible; this had been drawn graphically to his attention by an incident he frequently talked about through the years.

Dad was walking to class one day past a group of football players lounging in the sun and overheard one of them say “Who’s that new guy there”  One of the others retorted, “Oh, that’s just another one of those damn preachers!”  The latter speaker was the captain of the team, his name was Steve Owens.  Dad for the first time really appreciated the “culture gap” between the College of the Bible students and the lay students, particularly the athletes.  As a result of this he made it a point to look up Owens and get acquainted, and he resolved right then and there to establish better communications between the two factions.  He saw the Gridiron Club as a tool to accomplish that, and that goal was built into the bylaws of the club as he, Cameron and Jones organized it.

Steve Owens, for those readers who did not follow NFL football in any of the years of 1925 through 1960; was on the very first New York Giant football team as a player, became its coach, and coached there for over twenty-five years. Owens, a native of Aline, Oklahoma, is one of only two Oklahomans to be enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame.

   The Purpose of the Men of  Gridiron

The purpose of the Men of Gridiron shall be to promote fellowship among the students, to insure unity within the Student Body, to encourage deeper and stronger ties toward our Alma Mater, to foster heartier cooperation with the faculty and board of trustees, and in general, to recognize and help develop the manpower of the university.

Origin of the Name “GUS” 

“GUS” was originally a derogatory term given to students in the College of the Bible by students in the College of the Arts.  Until Harvesters was formed in the ’38-’39 school year, Gridiron was the only men’s club.  As the only club, the majority of its members were ministerial students.  The Harvester members adopted the GUS pejorative as its nickname for Gridiron. (per George England, ’42)

When I pledged Gridiron in 1965, I was told by members that “GUS” was a nickname derived from a long ago boarding house for Gridiron members owned and operated by a man named “Gus.”  When I asked my father about his knowledge of the origin of “GUS”, he gave me the above version.

Joe T. Irwin ’65, took exception with my father’s version, but agreed the rooming house story was oral history when he first heard it as a pledge.

It now appears that BOTH stories have legs, as witnessed by Jim Holland’s email to me, printed below.

“I talked to my Uncle John Holland (Gus ’50)  this afternoon and got the scoop on the REST OF THE STORY of GUS.   He was not familiar with the background on Gridiron being referred to as Gus before he arrived, but his recollection is that the name was in place when he came to Phillips as a freshman in 1947.  He moved into the Gus Hollander house (obviously no connection on the last name).   

At any given time there were six roomers in the 3 extra bedrooms in the house, located just off campus on Broadway, cater-corner from University Place church.  At the time John moved in, 4 of the 6 were in Gridiron and he in turn pledged, so he “could have chance to get in some swats on those guys”. 

Gus was almost totally deaf, friendly but ran a tight ship.  Mrs. Hollander (he doesn’t recall her first name since the guys never used it) was well suited to the landlord role as well it seems.

In the stories I had heard passed down about the ‘Gus' house, all the roomers were Gridiron, but John is not sure if that happened later.  So it seems that the story about Gus’ house/Gus’ Boys were also true.  No doubt a coincidence that appealed to the Men of Gridiron and reinforced the Gus legacy.  I’m sure you can find others that can contribute to the history.

GUS! “

If any GUS living in the Enid area can find and photograph the "GUS House" (if its still standing) we will publish it here.  Steve England '68

1922 State Champions 

The year 1922 is a year to be remembered in football history at Phillips.  The team was coached by M.M. “Tubby McIntire” who had come out from West Virginia the preceding year to succeed the famous “Mauly” Maulbetsch as coach.  The team played eight games during the season and won seven by decisive scores.  Their only loss was to the University of Texas at Austin.  Students of that era will never forget the afternoons that the Haymakers defeated Oklahoma City University 120 to 0, and the Oklahoma Baptists 109 to 6.  Baylor University also fell at the hands of the Haymakers by a score of 47 to 0.  Indeed for the season Phillips rolled up a total of 403 points to its opponents 74 and was declared state champion.  This team will live in our memory as the triumphant 1922 Champions who made history at Phillips as the “Point a Minute Team.”

(Prepared by Carl Ransbarger, Secretary 1922-23, for the celebration of Gridiron’s 50 year anniversary.)

Gridiron Rushes Onward 

“G” day was November 17, 1922.  Sixteen men started an organization on the campus of Phillips University.  By the spring of ’23, the club was in full swing.  Its purpose was to foster a heartier relationship between the Athletic Department and the student body.

In 1926 “GUS” raised $2,200 to purchase football team sweaters.  Other objectives of the drive included construction of the Phillips’ tennis courts adjacent to Earl Butts dormitory, the Enid Building and Phillips-Failing Park.

The first year as a social service club, 1931, Gridiron raised money to pay the expenses of the University band.  In 1935 we found Men of Gridiron sponsoring the Phillips High School Debate Tournament.

Presentation and crowning of the first Basketball Queen highlighted the hard war year of 1941.  Since that date, it had been the honored responsibility of “GUS” to crown the Basketball Queen, except in 1968 when Margie Dorman relieved G.C. of this 27 -year tradition.  In 1954 the club awarded the first Outstanding Athletic Award to a member of the athletic department.

In a continuation of service, Gridiron pledged $500 for Operation Beautification in the Spring of 1964. 

For many years Gridiron Club has been known for its annual all-school events.  The Round-Up, which has always been exciting in the fall; Gridiron’s 8th Day Party, and the President’s Party honoring the newly elected club officers highlight the spring’s major social events.

Today one finds a variety of men united together forming the oldest men’s club on the Phillips’ campus.  This social club, bound with tradition, still feels the force that many Phillipians felt in the spring of ’23 when the campus saw for the first time the Men of Gridiron.

This is only a short sketch of our history.  Every man in Gridiron realizes the future of Gridiron depends on him.

(Reprinted from the program  for the celebration of Gridiron’s 50 year anniversary, 1972.)