Cal Poly School Songs
All Hail Green and Gold
Written by H.P. Davidson, "All Hail Green and Gold" is Cal Poly's Alma Mater.
All Hail, Green and Gold,
May your praises e'er be told
Of Friendship, and of courage
And stalwart ones of old!
All Hail, Green and Gold,
In your name we shall prevail,
So to California Polytechnic,
Hail! Hail! Hail!
Ride High You Mustangs
Written by H.P. Davidson, "Ride High You Mustangs" is Cal Poly's official fight song.
Ride High, You Mustangs!
Kick the frost out burn the breeze
Ride High, You Mustangs!
Those bow-wows we'll knock to their knees
Hi! Ki! Yi!
Ride High, You Mustangs!
Chin the moon and do it right
Ride High and cut a rusty
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Yea Poly
"Yea Poly" became an official Cal Poly school song in 2009. The music was written by H.P. Davidson with lyrics by Joshua Parker (CSC 2009).
On Pacific shores, 'neath Bishop Peak
Along the serene San Luis Creek
Lies our alma mater, grand as can be!
Many a foe will stalk her ground
But we, mighty Mustangs, won't be found
But valiantly marching to victory!
Strike up the band for all to hear!
For our alma mater, sing and cheer!
Ride High and she'll never fail!
Banners of green and gold will raise
And so will the echoes of her praise
For Cal Poly will prevail!
YEA POLY!
The Golden Horseshoe
Cal Poly and UC Davis are both agricultural based universities creating many similarities. In 2003-2004 the tradition of exchanging the Golden Horseshoe began. UC Davis agreed to build a base for the trophy, while Cal Poly constructed the Golden Horseshoe.
There was a misunderstanding and both Davis and Poly made a Golden Horseshoe trophy. It was decided that the winning team of the inaugural 2004 game would choose the trophy. UC Davis won the game, chose their trophy and that trophy has been traded ever since.
Cal Poly has won the Golden Horseshoe a total of seven times, including three consecutive trophies from 2006-08 along with back-to-back victories in 2015 & 2016.
Memorial Plaque & Rock
A memorial plaque honoring members of the 1960 Cal Poly football team who lost their lives in a plane crash at Toledo Airport was dedicated in June 1967 at what was then called Mustang Stadium. Landscaping of the area in the northeast corner of the facility was done by about 40 students from the landscape and design class of the Ornamental Horticulture Department at Cal Poly under the direction of instructors Anthony Amato and Wes Conner.
The 10-by-20-inch bronze plaque includes the names of the 16 Cal Poly football players and the team manager with the inscription, "In memory of the Cal Poly football players who lost their lives in the plane crash, Toledo, Ohio, October 29, 1960."
Prior to each home game, Cal Poly football players pay tribute to the 1960 football team at the memorial rock. For each road trip, the team loads up the buses near Mott Athletics Center, drives to Alex G. Spanos Stadium and walks to the rock for reflection prior to departing campus.
Chase: Cal Poly's Live Mascot
In 2013, Cal Poly alumnus Robin Baggett (Business '73) and his wife, Michelle donated a gelding named Moonstar to Cal Poly for the purpose of boosting school spirit on campus. Faculty and students in Cal Poly's animal science program prepped the horse for his debut at the 2014 Mustang Football home opener.
The live mascot is intended to supplement, not replace, Musty, the costumed character that has served the university as a spirit symbol for years.
In 2014, Moonstar was renamed Chase after Cal Poly's only female president, Margaret Chase. The name is a metaphor to encourage the entire Cal Poly community to always pursue their dreams. Read More.
The Blue-Green Rivalry
The Blue-Green Rivalry between Central California coastal rivals Cal Poly and UC Santa Barbara was established in the fall of 2012.
UCSB and Cal Poly first met on the football field in 1921 and became strong rivals years later when they were both members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Gaucho programs jumped to NCAA Division I in 1970 and the rivalry took a hiatus until the Mustangs took the Division I step in 1994, joining the Big West Conference two years later.
The rest is history.
UCSB and Cal Poly, combined, have more than 40,000 students as well as 20,000 faculty and staff. Thousands of alums from each school still call the central and south coasts home.
Student-athletes from UCSB and Cal Poly will decide on a Blue-Green Rivalry trophy and in the future, the rivalry is expected to have a presenting sponsor. Read more.
The Cal Poly "P"
The Poly P, one of the oldest hillside initials in the West, is the embodiment of Cal Poly's eventful history.
Although there are several versions of the Poly P's origins, the first mention of the hillside icon is found in a 1919 issue of The Polygram, the student newspaper. Rivalry between the California Polytechnic School and San Luis Obispo High School was always intense, but one fall morning of that year, Poly students awoke to find several large stone H (for High) letters on the hills surrounding the town. The Poly students changed each H to a P; the San Luis High students battled back. Students from the Poly concentrated their defense on the hillside P overlooking the campus, which has adorned the foothill ever since.
Learn More about the Poly P HERE
The hastily chosen site was ideal. The P is visible from the highway, the city, and the original Administration building (now the clock tower). Born out of rivalry, the P shone as the symbol of students' pride in their campus. Throughout the 1920s, the freshman dormitory boys, under the "delicate supervision" of the sophomores, maintained the 24-by-40-foot P, tidying up its stone outline and filling it in with a fresh layer of lime. The cleaning of the P, organized by the Dormitory Club, took place each fall before the Homecoming game. After particularly rainy winters, the P received additional care from the freshmen, usually before the Easter break. Before the 1921 Homecoming game, the Dorm boys lit a large bonfire and guarded the Poly P throughout the night from rivals.
Eventually the maintenance of the "P" was determined an athletic contest between the freshman and sophomore classes. The Freshman-Sophomore Brawl featured a tug of war, greased pole climbs, three-legged races, wheelbarrow races, and other tests of skill and endurance. As the school grew, the Rally Club, a spirit organization, inherited the maintenance and added light to the P for their rallies the day before a football game, dragging a generator up the steep slope. If Poly won the game, the lighted P was replaced with a V for victory.
The original rock-and-lime configuration changed over the years, including a period when the Block P Club used white-washed barn doors to form the letter. By 1956, the "P" was in shambles, some blamed it on the high school kids; some blamed it on the rain, but most blamed it on the freshmen. No matter who was responsible for the damage the "P", one thing was clear, it needed to be repaired.
An enlarged concrete P was finished on May 3, 1957, by Delta Sigma Phi, using supplies donated by local businesses and tractors driven by agricultural engineering majors. This 50-by-35 foot P still overlooks the campus today.
Decorating the P to spell out messages — even proposals of marriage — is a long-standing campus tradition, often reflecting the temper of the times. In 1964, the P was modified to GOP, in the 1970s POT appeared, and in the 1980s an ambitious group spelled out SPRINGSTEEN. The P is also frequently altered to the names of fraternities, sororities and campus clubs, with white bed sheets twisted into letters as the favorite temporary means of expression.
