page_title: Truman State University
section_title: Campus lore
hierarchical_section_title: Truman State University / Campus life / Campus lore
caption_attribution_description: English: second "gum tree" at Truman State University
context_page_description: Truman State University is a public university in Kirksville, Missouri. It had 5,222 enrolled students in the fall of 2019. pursuing degrees in 50 undergraduate, and eight graduate programs.
  The university is named for U.S. President Harry Truman, who was born in Missouri. From 1972 until 1996, the school was known as Northeast Missouri State University.
context_section_description: The weather vane atop Kirk Memorial is welded in place so that it will always point northeast, in honor of the school's previous name and its location.
  In 2012 a large capital letter "F" was created in the concrete on the East walkway into Violette Hall. It is rumored that if you enter through this entrance on the day of a test, you will fail the test. Students recommend that you walk around to another entrance on test days, even if it makes you late.
  "The Ghost of Centennial Hall" is named "Joan," who has been said to be a student killed in an auto accident in the 1970s. In addition, "Charlotte" and an unnamed little boy have haunted Grim Hall for 70 years, and "Gina" watches over the women of Ryle. See external link "Truman Ghost Stories," below.
  Students traditionally stuck their chewing gum on a redbud tree on the east side of campus. This "gum tree" was decorated in colorful wads, and at times, it even sported students' names.  Lore has it that the concept of the gum tree originated in the 1920s when it was against the rules to chew gum in class. The tree was vandalized and knocked down by an unknown party in 2000, but students quickly adopted another tree.
  The sunken garden, site of many student weddings, is actually the cellar left from the Baldwin Hall fire of 1924. Due to the frequency of student weddings in the sunken garden, a campus myth came into common circulation. It is alleged that if a new couple has their first kiss at midnight on one of the two benches located in the sunken garden, the couple will eventually get married.
  A row of large, clapperless bells is fixed in a brick wall on the quad. The Bell Wall was built and dedicated at the Centennial Celebration in 1967. The bells were donated by Joe Burdman, local businessman and University benefactor. The historic bells were collected from abandoned churches, schoolhouses and public buildings in northeast Missouri. Each bell was meant to represent the ideals of liberty, justice, religion, and education.
  The annual football game against Northwest Missouri State University was established in 1930 when Northwest president Uel W. Lamkin sent Fair a polished hickory stick from the farm where the former president Eugene Fair was born. The "Hickory Stick" was contested annually until 2013, when Truman and Northwest Missouri began competing in different athletic conferences.
  For many years, an irregularly shaped portion of sidewalk (which had previously been home to a tree) was called the "sacred potato," and was the focus of a number of rituals and superstitions: one should never step on it if one had a test that same day; sticking a knife into a potato on the spot at midnight warded off a failing grade. Stepping on the sacred potato had been rumored to cause one to either fail their next test or become pregnant. Around 2002, campus facilities replaced the sidewalk, sparking student complaints.
  The statue of President Truman formerly located in Pickler Memorial Library was said to bestow good fortune on any student who borrowed a penny from his hat for a test.  However, lore held any good fortune would be negated if the penny was not returned the same day.  These 'Truman Pennies' were placed by students studying for tests in the library, and it was also considered good luck to place a penny in the hat. However, the statue was moved to the new Ruth Towne Museum and Visitors Center (named after long-time faculty member Dr. Ruth Warner Towne, who donated $1 million to create the museum of University and northeast Missouri artifacts) on the corner of Normal and Franklin just north of campus.
caption: The second – replacement – gum tree near the southwest corner of Ophelia Parrish Hall
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