Blue and Gold Fight Song - Oxford High School

The "Blue and Gold Fight Song" of Oxford High School, as performed by the 2021 East Carolina Marching Pirates.
History of the fight song: The Oxford High School Fight Song is called “Blue and Gold Fight Song.” It was composed in 1943 by an OHS student by the name of Martin Kozak (1927-1992). At age 17, Kozak was a senior in the band at the time of song’s composition, and it was formally adopted by the district as the school fight song on May 2, 1944. Although the fight song is not listed, the OHS band gave a “Victory” concert on Tuesday, December 14, 1943, and an article describing the concert mentions on the program “a number of the best known “victory” songs and marches,” which may have included the premiere of the fight song the OHS band plays to this day.
After serving at the end of WWII, Kozak became a family physician in Portland, Michigan, where he worked from the mid-1950s until his passing in 1992. The original manuscript of the “Blue and Gold Fight Song” can viewed at the Northeast Oakland Historical Museum.
Background from Dr. Busuito: In 2009, I was a young, aspiring band director who had just graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in music education. Jobs were scarce, and I came up short in every interview I took. It seemed likely that I was headed for a different career than the one I had dreamed of since I was a freshman in high school.
The week before the school year started, a job was posted for the high school in the next district north of where I grew up: Oxford High School. The posting said "preference will be given to candidates with experience in jazz and on guitar," neither of which I had experience enough to claim I was really a suitable candidate for the position. I actually suggested to the committee that I leave after I told them my only experience on a string instrument was baritone ukulele (at which they all laughed). But they didn't give up on me... they pressed me, and I drew enough connections from wind instrument pedagogy to guitar that I was able to make it to a second round. One marching band sectional later, I received the first job offer of my professional career, and it was off to the races.
I went on to spend four transformative years at Oxford, having my beliefs about music education deconstructed and rebuilt. I learned the value of relationships, empathy, and the immense capacity of music to forge bonds that can transcend generations. Oxford's impact on me is undeniable, and I am certain I wouldn't be where I am today had they not taken a chance on me.
Fast forward eight years to today. I am the director of athletic bands at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. And still, Oxford is and always will be the first place I ever called home. There has sparsely been a day since I left in 2013 that I haven't drawn on my time, and the experience continues to inform many of the practices I employ in nurturing the sense of community that underpins every great band.
Oxford: the staff, students, and community embodies the best of us given the magnitude of its strength, resilience, compassion, and love. It is to them, with Love and Praise, that this performance is dedicated. Fight on, Wildcats. Fight.