the newspapers downtown. They continued to use "the Blue and Gray" when referring to the university. Blue and Gray represented the unity of the United States and in 1976, the Tigers wore red, white and blue in celebration of the United States Bicentennial.
Under Coach Lester Barnard in 1922, Memphis's football team gave a ring of truth to that old student yell about Tigers. The team adopted a motto – "Every Man a Tiger" – and went on to score 174 points while allowing its opponents just 29 points. The Tiger nickname continued with students and alumni, eventually being adopted as the official nickname for the University of Memphis in 1939.
=== Song ===
Notable among a number of songs commonly played and sung at various events such as commencement and convocation, and athletic games is "Go! Tigers! Go!", the University of Memphis Tigers' fight song. The fight song was written by Tom Ferguson, former Director of Bands at Memphis State University during the 1960s.
== Special programs and institutes ==
=== Tennessee …
