 Whenever
you cheer on the Fighting Scots, hear the familiar wail of bagpipes playing "Scotland the
Brave," wear a tartan tie or otherwise indulge in MC's rich Scottish heritage, you can thank
Harold L. Hermann '27.
It was
Hermann, working in the college’s Alumni Relations and Sports Information offices in the late
1920's and 1930's, who gave the MC athletic teams the Scots nickname, chose the Menzies Plaid
as the college tartan, brought the first bagpiper to campus, and reinforced a Scottish
tradition that had been largely forgotten to that point.
"I almost single-handedly forced the Scots
nickname on the institution," Hermann wrote in a 1978 letter to the college filled with his
memories of his days as a student and employee. "I have never regretted what I did."
Hermann wrote that in 1928, the students
had chosen the nickname Bulldogs for the Monmouth College athletic teams.
"I was horrified," Hermann wrote. "I was
aware of the rich Scotch background of the church and the alumni. So I campaigned."
Hermann’s job was strategically positioned
so he could campaign with the most effectiveness. Since he handled sports information, he used
Fighting Scots for the teams’ nickname instead of Bulldogs, and the press gradually picked it
up. As alumni affairs director, he wrote about clans rather than classes in the alumni news.
It wasn’t long before Hermann’s work
changed the Monmouth Bulldogs to the Monmouth Fighting Scots.
"No one really objected to the name, so
when the students started calling themselves Scots and other colleges seemed to adopt it as
our nickname, I thought we had it made," he wrote.
Hermann also worked to supply symbols for
his new nickname, all of which still survive. He chose the Menzies clan’s hunting plaid as the
college’s tartan, along with the assistance of Mrs. Harry Lightner (who would later become
Bobby Woll’s mother-in-law). Hermann and Lightner also came up with the idea to replace the
green freshmen caps with Scottish tartan caps that used the new tartan.
Hermann also brought the first bagpiper to
campus from Chicago, establishing the tradition that would later create the Pipes and Drums.
By the time he left the college in 1944 for
new employment, the Fighting Scots name and the college’s Scottish heritage had been well
established.
"I really believe I invented the Scots idea
and forced it on the college," he wrote in 1978.
Hermann was something of a jack of all
trades during his tenure at MC. Besides his work in alumni relations, public relations and
sports information, he also worked occasionally in development and admissions at MC. In
addition, he taught courses in journalism, and during World War II, taught physics and dead
reckoning navigation in the Navy’s V-12 program that he helped bring to the college.
A career ad-man and incessant promoter,
Hermann left MC in 1944 and worked for two years as advertising manager for the Abingdon
Press, the publishing arm of the Methodist Church. That led to a long career as public
relations director for the Upper Room, the daily devotional guide for the Methodist Church (in
his 1978 letter, Hermann said he helped circulation go from 100,000 to more than 3 million per
issue). He retired from the Methodist Church in 1970 and took a part-time job with Fields
Advertising and Public Relations in Memphis. He suffered a stroke in 1977 and died in 1981.
He never forgot MC, though. He stayed in
touch with the college and gave financial gifts through the years, and the college presented
him its Distinguished Service Award in 1978. According to his son, John, promoting MC was more
than just another job for Hermann. He said his father loved Monmouth College, both as a
student and as an employee.
"It felt like home there," said John, who
lived in Monmouth until he was 14. "The faculty
and the college people were all our friends, and I spent a lot of time when I was growing up
on that campus.
"He was very pleased he was named the
Distinguished Service Award winner in 1978," John said. "That was very meaningful to him, and
he thought it was a great tragedy he couldn’t attend the ceremony because of his ill health."
He said he remembers as a child when his
father was trying to find a Scottish plaid that he could use in the college’s publications.
Because of the primitive printing systems of the time, the plaid could only be reproduced in
two colors.
"He was always trying to find a plaid that
had just two colors so it could show up in print," he said. "He finally found it with the
Menzies, which was just white and red."
Hermann was also instrumental in convincing
the Navy to locate its V-12 flight training school at MC, which provided a steady flow of
students at a time of otherwise declining enrollment. He taught physics and dead reckoning
navigation after only the briefest of training.
"He went to Missouri for two weeks of
training in navigation, then came back and taught it," John laughed.
John said leaving MC for new employment was
one of his father’s most difficult decisions.
"The only reason he left was for fiscal
reasons, and for his career," he said. "If he wanted to move up in his career, he had to move
on. But it was very hard for him because Monmouth was such a great part of his life. He was very creative and was full of plans on how to get people involved in the college."
Additional Scots History:
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