The Glee Club

Rooted in school spirit and camaraderie, the Glee Club is one of the oldest music groups at Rutgers University. The club was organized in 1872 by Edwin E. Colburn and a group of sophomores who were surprised that Rutgers was not included in the first edition of the Carmina Collegensia-a definitive collection of American college songs. Although Rutgers had several songs at the time (mainly sung after football victories against Princeton and Columbia), there was no official school song. As a result, the Glee Club formed to popularize Rutgers’ songs. Its early repertoire consisted of school spirit and football songs sung at college events and local performances. The Glee Club’s early directors included Loren Bragdon (1881–1896) and Howard D. McKinney (1916-1946). Throughout their respective tenures, Bragdon and McKinney were responsible for taking a small group singing college songs and shaping it into the choral ensemble it is today. McKinney was especially instrumental in organizing programs and concerts in which the Glee Club performed with other Rutgers University ensembles including the Rutgers College Chapel Choir, the New Jersey College for Women’s Glee Club, the Weeping Willows, and the Voorhees Chapel Choir. In 1946, F. Austin “Soup” Walter became the director. During this period the club began performing internationally to much acclaim. In the early 2000s, the Glee Club was directed by Patrick Gardner, and performed locally, nationally, and internationally. Despite its many successes at home and abroad, the Rutgers University Glee Club remains a fixture of Rutgers University; the group performs numerous concerts on campus and continues to promote school spirit at football games and other college events.