Featured Testimonial About Creighton University
I picked it out on my banjo.
Creighton celebrated the 50th birthday of its fight song during a special homecoming weekend in 1976, highlighted by a halftime ceremony at a men’s basketball game to honor the anthem’s composer, Gordon X. Richmond, BA’26.
“50th Birthday of C.U. Song,” read the headline in the Alumnews, the monthly alumni newsletter. Richmond received a plaque. He conducted the pep band as it played “The White and the Blue.” Fans stood and clapped along, and the Bluejays picked up a victory over Montana. What a weekend it was.
But wait! There’s just one teeny, tiny technicality that wasn’t recently discovered until a thorough exploration of Creighton records, newspaper archives and photo vaults (as 2026 was presumed to be the song’s 100th birthday, a milestone anniversary worth celebrating this year).
“The White and the Blue” was NOT 50 years old in 1976.
The song’s 50th birthday party took place in 1976, yes. But it should have happened two years earlier. Richmond wrote the song in 1924.
Oops.
Do you know all the words to the fight song?
Our research efforts, assisted by the University Archives and Special Collections, have confirmed this, and revealed a timeline:
Early 1924: The Omaha Bee newspaper announced the results of a poll to determine Creighton’s official mascot and nickname. Creighton adopted its “Bluejays” moniker.
Also in 1924: Students and alumni did have Creighton-themed songs to sing, but they were written to known tunes. “On Old Creighton” was a version of Wisconsin’s fight song, “On Wisconsin.” And “Dear Creighton ‘tis of thee” matched the melody of “America.”
One particular day in 1924: Richmond had an idea. He would later say in interviews that he and fellow students thought Creighton needed more than a mascot and a few chants to rally behind. Lots of schools had an authentic song to belt out together at events. But not Creighton. Not yet.
Oct. 25, 1924: It’s now believed to be the first publication of “The White and the Blue.” It occurred on page 5 of the Creightonian, the campus student newspaper. Musical notes and lyrics were printed above a photo of Richmond, along with a report that stated the Union Board and Musical Organizations of the University voted to adopt “The White and the Blue” as the official school song.
Late 1920s: A few alumni petitioned to change the song or at least add a few new stanzas. They claimed “The White and the Blue” was too combative to recite at alumni events. Richmond obliged, actually, and wrote new verses.
1960s: Concerns arose that “The White and the Blue” was not peppy and fiery enough. Too tame, apparently. A Creighton student submitted a new option to consider for the University’s fight song.
Ultimately, “The White and the Blue” endured.
And today, Creighton’s fight song is 100 102 years old. And counting.
“The White and the Blue” gets played for Creighton students, alumni, fans and friends to stand up and clap along (and sing along!) while attending sporting events and celebratory gatherings. It’s the ultimate melodic expression of school spirit and Bluejay pride.
The lyrics and melody, remarkably, remain mostly unchanged from the version that Richmond composed overnight in 1924 (NOT 1926!).
The archived publications and records do have a few details about that night, what was arguably the most important solo jam session in University history.
Richmond was a member of the Creighton’s glee club. He had started his own five-piece orchestra, and he’d earned accolades for being a skilled orator and writer. So, he had talent. One all-nighter was all he needed.
Richmond jotted the notes and chords on a sheet of music paper, with the lyrics written beneath it.
“I picked it out on my banjo,” Richmond later told The Omaha World-Herald.
The World-Herald reported years later that Richmond then took his composition to Professor Henry G. Cox, director of Creighton Musical Organizations. One finger at a time, Richmond played the melody on the piano — and Cox built a comprehensive musical score for the band to play.
Cox said to the Creightonian that “The White and the Blue” was “the most spirited and inspiring college song I have ever listened to.”
Richmond went on to work for The World-Herald, and he helped cement “Bluejays” as Creighton’s nickname. Richmond, who died in 1979, spent much of his professional career practicing law in California.
Richmond wrote in the alumni newspaper in 1930 that he was grateful his “humble efforts” could create something new and produce an anthem that remains “Creighton’s own song.”
