HEADSTAND After the football team lost 28 consecutive games in four years, Coach Phillip Tinsworth vowed that he would stand on his head at the corner of 10th and Phillips Avenue if his team won a game. Finally, on Tepee Day in 1953, the Braves beat the Trojans of General Beadle College (now Dakota State) 13-0, and Coach Tinsworth kept his promise.
PURPLE FEATHER Purple Feather tradition begins in 1921 and continues today, recognizing students for outstanding contributions of scholarship, character, leadership and service.
COUGAR RIDE The “Cougar Ride,” a homecoming tradition, starts in 1987 when sculptor Douglas Baer ’67 creates the larger-than-life mascot. Following coronation, students ride the cougar the week leading up to the football game.
THE MADRIGAL TRADITION Madrigal Dinners celebrates 50 years of music, dancing, drama and fine dining in 2013.
THE FIRST MASCOT
GREEN BEANIE HAT Freshmen are required to wear green beanies to signify that they are “green behind the ears,” having had little exposure to the world.
The first sports team in 1923 is named ‘The Dakota Braves’ after a homecoming contest is held.
STARS 1996 CEREAL BOX USF Cougars win their first NAIA National Football Championship in 1996.
HOMECOMING PARADE/TEPEE DAY Homecoming tradition of Tepee Day begins in 1923 and continues for 53 years.
GLEE CLUBS SOO FOO COO THEATRICAL REVUE
The first men’s and women’s glee clubs are established in 1917.
The Coo Revue hits the road in 1984 with a series of songs, dances and messages put together to share at youth camps and churches.
Sioux Falls College is featured in Time magazine. 1967 The caption reads: “Seven Buildings in Seven Years.”
1885
Name changes to Sioux Falls University and campus’s first
A letterman’s sweater is worn in the 1930s by members of the Varsity Club to represent school and team pride as well as to display personal awards earned in athletics, academics or activities.
1890
1900
USF School of Nursing 2009 founded.
Pearl Irene Odell is the first four-year college graduate, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Then Sioux Falls University acquires four Baptist 1929 schools that had ceased to operate: Cedar Valley Seminary (Iowa), Des Moines University (Iowa), -1931 Grand Island College (Neb.) and Parker College
Under the name Dakota Collegiate Institute, secondary and collegiate 1883 programs begin in the basement of the Sioux Falls First Baptist Church.
1880
The University of Sioux Falls community 2013 celebrates 130 years of mission and motto.
LETTERMAN’S SWEATER
building, Dakota Hall (renamed Meredith Hall in 1929), is built.
1904
The subtitle adds: “But our stature comes from people.”
1910
1920
Braves mascot is 1979 changed to Cougars.
(Minn.) to form a new corporation: Sioux Falls College.
1930
1940
Sioux Falls College becomes the 1995 University of Sioux Falls.
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
The University of Sioux Falls has come far since 1883 and continues to remain faithful to the vision of its founders. The University affirms its heritage as a distinctively Christian college in the liberal arts tradition, fostering academic excellence and the development of mature Christian persons for service to God and humankind in the world. USF MAGAZINE // PAGE 1