In the history of American football, this game stands out.   The final score—a record 220 to 0—has never been broken and is not likely to be touched in the future.

It was a cool, wet October 7 in 1916 when Cumberland College in Lebanon, Tennessee visited Georgia Tech.   In his book Heisman’s First Trophy (Franklin Green Publishing, 2016), award-winning Tennessee journalist Sam Hatcher argued that the ludicrously lopsided game launched Southern schools as towering giants in intercollegiate football.  

It was the eve of American entry into World War I “and we had disbanded our football team” as young men prepared for military service, Dr Paul Stumb, president of modern-day Cumberland University, told The Rotary Club of McMinnville at its weekly luncheon Thursday.  

The tiny liberal arts college didn’t have a team but it did have a contract to play Georgia Tech.   And Tech Coach John Heisman threatened to sue for damages if Cumberland didn’t show up.

So the high-spirited members of Cumberland’s Kappa Sigma fraternity join a few stalwart students from the college’s male chorus in putting on the pads and cleats for the matchup with the powerhouse team in neighboring Georgia.  The system of downs didn’t seem to apply in actual practice as every snap on the Tech side resulted in a touchdown.  But Cumberland, whose financial condition at the time was delicate and unsteady, didn’t get sued.

For the little college that managed to survive the Civil War, the 1916 pigskin comedy was just one of very many notable precedents, the others being more laudable and noble, Stumb told the Rotarians and their guests in the fellowship hall of First Presbyterian Church.

For starters, Cumberland is the oldest institution of higher learning in Middle Tennessee, and had the first college of law west of the Appalachian Mountains, he noted.  The school graduated two future justices of the US Supreme County and 14 justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court.

Among other alumni were 21 governors, more than 80 members of Congress and the longest-serving US Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, who won the Nobel Peace Prize as one of the founders of the United Nations.  

The school cinched national championships in baseball, volleyball and wrestling, and earned seven national titles in track.   The most recent achievement was the US championship in eSports, a fast-growing technology in video gaming that could propel the best students into highly lucrative careers.

William Hardy, a 19th Century railroad kingpin who graduated at Cumberland, established three of Mississippi’s major commercial cities: Gulfport, Hattiesburg and Laurel, the latter two named for important women in his life.  Alumnus Myles Horton played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights movement as a teacher and mentor for such notable leaders as Dr Martin Luther King.

Proud of its historic achievements, Cumberland in 2023 is a dynamic, forward-looking institution that thrives on diversity in its student body and its range of intellectual interests, Stumb emphasized in his McMinnville Rotary talk.

With a record enrollment this year of nearly 3,100 undergraduates, the university is serving students from 65 of Tennessee’s 95 counties, 38 different states and 49 countries.

“It’s a very diverse campus.  We take pride in that diversity because it allows our students to learn from each other,” William “Rusty” Richardson, the school’s executive director of Community Relations & External Affairs, commented in an interview taping for McMinnville Public Radio 91.3-WCPI following the Rotary luncheon.   Richardson and Stumb expand on their civic club talk when the half-hour interview airs on 91.3 FM Tuesday at 5:00 pm and again Thursday at 1:00 pm.

Although it is categorized as a liberal arts institution, Cumberland prepares its graduates for successful careers as well as personal fulfillment, Stumb said.   One example of the effectiveness of its programs is the fact that, year in and year out, its nursing graduates have the highest first-time passing rate on the state licensing exams.  That rate—100 percent—tops the numbers for Vanderbilt, Belmont University and Tennessee Tech, the president stated.  

Another point of pride, Stumb said, is its acceptance of Tennessee Promise scholarship students, allowed them to receive their first two years of college at no cost for tuition.  Upon completion of their sophomore year, the students often elect to continue their studies at Cumberland as they advance toward the baccalaureate degree.