Poly Traditions
Poly Traditions and Culture
The first Poly-City Football game was played in 1889 - a tradition still held today!
The school seal from the North Avenue Building was moved to the new school on Cold Spring Lane and was placed in the floor of Memorial Hall where it remains today. While students no longer clean it with a toothbrush, they respect the seal by never walking on it.
Globe Valve drawings can still be found at Poly as a reminder of our engineering roots. Students were required to draw and ink a globe valve as part of the engineering curriculum.
Through the 1970s, the Poly Follies provided annual entertainment and camaraderie for Poly students.
Wilmer DeHuff, Class of 1907, the longest serving director at Poly, was known for demanding excellence in his students - an influence that many alumni still feel today!
The BPI Alumni Association was established in 1887 and draws nearly 1,000 alumni to the annual dinner every year in November.
A new tradition was started at Poly in 2009, when the Class of 1954 initiated a Memorial Brick Walk outside the main entrance to the school. All alumni are welcome to purchase a brick for inclusion in the brick walk.
The Six Words that all Poly alumni and students live by:
Freedom
Responsibility
Perseverance
Achievement
Goodness
Mercy
O Polytechnic, hail to thee
Our Alma Mater, hail to thee
We'll always loyal be and true
And fight on for the Orange and Blue.
Thy name we'll always hold on high
Forever, ever, B.P.I.
O Polytechnic, hail to thee
Our Alma Mater, hail to thee
Thy spirit ever onward go
And trample under any foe.
Be thy fair banner ever high,
Our guiding star within the sky.
Lyrics by James Sagerholm '46
Poly-Polytechnic
Poly proud are we
As we go marching
On to victory.
We are out to win, now!
Beat City's team!
Fight, fight for Poly.
Hoorah, hoorah, hoorah!