Often called the most beloved and popular of college fraternity songs, "The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi" was written in 1911 by Byron D. Stokes (Albion

Albion College

Albion College is a private liberal arts college located in Albion, Michigan. Related to the United Methodist Church, it was founded in 1835 and was the first private college in Michigan to have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. It has a student population of about 1500.The school's sports teams are...

, Class of 1913) and F. Dudleigh Vernor (Albion

Albion College

Albion College is a private liberal arts college located in Albion, Michigan. Related to the United Methodist Church, it was founded in 1835 and was the first private college in Michigan to have a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. It has a student population of about 1500.The school's sports teams are...

, Class of 1914). Stokes had written the words while in class one June day that year, and presented them that afternoon to Vernor, who was practicing the piano in a local house, and composed the music at that time. The song has since become a favorite among ballroom orchestras and was used in two movie musicals of the same name, in 1933 and 1946. When asked about the song's inspiration, Stokes replied, "The 'Sweetheart' is the symbol for the spiritual ingredient in brotherhood. It was the Sigma Chi

Sigma Chi

Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...

 Fraternity itself that inspired the song. I wrote the words not long after my initiation, and the magic of our Ritual with its poetic overtones and undertones was, I suppose, the source of my inspiration". The original musical composition remained on campus until 2007 when it was lost and not recovered.

The song was first sung by Harry Cliford (Albion '11), who later drew the cover for the original sheet music published by Vernor's brother Harry Vernor (Albion '13). The song became a big band

Big band

A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...

 hit, has been performed in film and television, and continues to be recognized around the world. Through the years many people have tried to pin the title of "original sweetheart" on many women, however the two most likely candidates are Elsie Munro (Vernor's girlfriend) and Helen Beall Russell, who lived next to the old chapter house. Either way since then the concept of the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi has gained popularity all across the world with the adoption of sweethearts at every chapter and even an international sweetheart.

Performers

• Ted Lewis
  Ted Lewis (musician)
  Theodore Leopold Friedman, better known as Ted Lewis , was an American entertainer, bandleader, singer, and musician. He led a band presenting a combination of jazz, hokey comedy, and schmaltzy sentimentality that was a hit with the American public. He was known by the moniker "Mr...
  
   and His Band (1926?) "The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi" Columbia Records 1296-D
• Gene Austin
  Gene Austin
  Gene Austin was an American singer and songwriter, one of the first "crooners". His 1920s compositions "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" and "The Lonesome Road" became pop and jazz standards.-Career:...
  
   (1925-1936), "Voice of the Southland"
• Burt Bales
  Burt Bales
  Burt Bales was an American jazz stride pianist.Bales began on piano at age twelve, and played in hotels and nightclubs in California in the 1930s...
  
   (1959), "On the Waterfront"
• Bing Crosby
  Bing Crosby
  Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
  
  , "On Treasure Island"
• Dean Martin
  Dean Martin
  Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
  
   (1946)
• Muzzy Marcellino
  Muzzy Marcellino
  Maurice "Muzzy" Marcellino was an American singer and musician, known primarily for his clear, melodious style of whistling....
  
   (?)
• Charles Kullman
  Charles Kullman
  Charles Kullman , originally Charles Kullmann, was an American tenor who enjoyed a wide-ranging career, both in Europe and America.- Life and career :...
  
   (c. 1959?), Philips 45 rpm, 'Musical Gems' series, SBF 286
• Fred Waring and The Pennsylvanians
  Waring's Pennsylvanians
  Waring's Pennsylvanians was a jazz - Dixieland band which was most popular in the 1920s and 1930s but continued to exist and play until Fred Waring's death in 1984....
  
   (1956), "College Memories" Decca Records DL 8222
• Ben Webster
  Ben Webster
  Benjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
  
   (1960), "The Warm Moods"
• SIGnificant (2007), downloadable from SigmaChi.org
• Mormon Tabernacle Choir
  Mormon Tabernacle Choir
  The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, sometimes colloquially referred to as MoTab, is a Grammy and Emmy Award winning, 360-member, all-volunteer choir. The choir is part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . However, the choir is completely self-funded, traveling and producing albums to...
  
  : Stars and Stripes Forever; March Favorites and College Songs (1973, 1978)

Lyrics

The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi
Words by Byron D. Stokes, Albion 1913

When the world goes wrong, as it's bound to do
And you've broken Dan Cupid's bow
And you long for the girl you used to love
the maid of the long ago

Why light your pipe, bid sorrow avaunt,
Blow the smoke from your alter of dreams
And wreathe the face of your dream-girl there
The love that is just what it seems.

The girl of my dreams is the sweetest girl
Of all the girls I know
Each sweet co-ed, like a rainbow trail
Fades in the after glow

The blue of her eyes and the gold of her hair
Are a blend of the western sky

And the moonlight beams
On the girl of my dreams
She's the Sweetheart of Sigma Chi.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The girl of my dreams is the sweetest girl
Of all the girls I know
Our sweet romance
Like a timeless dance
Dwells in my heart and soul

The love in her eyes and the warmth of her smile
Endure as the years go by

And the moon still beams
On the girl of my dreams
Like a bright shining star in the sky
My sweetheart of Sigma Chi.

Movies

• Ghost Story
  Ghost Story (film)
  Ghost Story is a 1981 American horror film directed by John Irvin and based on the book of the same name by Peter Straub. It stars Fred Astaire, Melvyn Douglas, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Houseman and Craig Wasson . It was the last film to feature Astaire, Fairbanks, and Douglas, and the first...
  
  (1981)
• Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (1946)
• The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi (1933)

Television

• Who's the Boss: Mona (Katherine Helmond
  Katherine Helmond
  Katherine Marie Helmond is an American film, theater and television actress, who played Emily Dickinson on Meeting of Minds, as well as such fictional characters as Jessica Tate on Soap, Mona Robinson on Who's the Boss?, Doris Sherman on Coach, and Lois Whelan on Everybody Loves...
  
  ) Gets Pinned; Episode Number: 4; Season Number: 1; First Aired: Tuesday October 30, 1984; Production Code: 0107 Sung by Dean Butler appearing as Jason and other "Fraternity Brothers"