In January 1932 Bob Horton, a member of PiKA, a tenor in the UT Glee Club, and a college representative on the All Students’ Council, suggested a songfest, either on a fraternity and sorority level or a university level, to acquaint students with university songs. The All Students’ Council went on record in support of the idea and appointed Horton chairman of a committee to work out the details. The committee chose six groups (Pi Kappa Alpha, Delta Delta Delta, Alpha Omicron Pi, Kappa Delta, Phi Gamma Delta, Phi Pi Phi) in tryouts in the respective fraternity house or sorority room (in which the hopefuls wore formal attire) to participate in the first annual University Sing in Jefferson Hall. Groups were limited to a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 16 voices. The contestant groups sang two verses of the “Alma Mater” and one song that was representative of their organization. The event also featured a concert by the University Band and selections by University Glee Clubs.
This event has evolved into the annual All Sing, providing competition among fraternities, sororities, and other groups. The original structure of the contest provided that the name of winning organizations would be inscribed on a cup and that a group that won the contest three consecutive times would retire the cup. The first winners were the PiKAs—who won three consecutive times and retired the original cup—and the Tri-Delts.
Horton, who became a successful insurance salesman in Memphis, accepted an invitation to attend the 23rd annual event on February 26, 1954, and presented the trophies to the winners. Three members of the Pi Kappa Alpha group who had won the original contest attended the 25th anniversary sing.