A Tribute: Master of Sing, George Stokes

Anniversaries offer us an opportunity to reminisce and relive some of life's treasured moments. For so many people for so many years, their memories of All University Sing revolve around one man: Dr. George M. Stokes. 
After joining the Baylor faculty in 1952 as a professor of speech communication, Dr. Stokes agreed to serve as master of ceremonies for Sing in 1958. It would be a commitment he honored for 40 years. 
Spend an afternoon with his wife of 54 years, Katy, listening to her reminisce, and one yearns to be transported back to Waco Hall to see Dr. Stokes on stage just one more time.
"The joy of it was the brevity of George," Katy says. "He didn't feel like he had to be cutesy, although he was sometimes. But he would come out and very simply state that the acts were coming on."
He always looked forward to his moment on the stage, she says. "It became something he did every year because he was that good at it," Katy says. "He was good backstage, and he would greet a lot of the students. And after a while, he would greet the children of the students."
With his quick wit and impeccable timing, he graciously would encourage each audience to be participants, not merely spectators. Many will recall having to practice their applause, section by section, until he thought it had reached an acceptable level of volume and enthusiasm. Only then would he introduce the first act.
It was a role he filled until Nov. 7, 1998. At the age of 80, he had made up his mind to stop. But even more than his age, Katy says, he had a practical reason for stepping down as emcee. "He said to me at one point, 'I've got to stop or I've got to buy a new tux. I don't want this thing to just fall to pieces.'" 
In his final moments on the Sing stage, Dr. Stokes' image was captured in a photograph. His hand is raised above his head in a grand wave and a smile covers his face. For Katy, the photo is symbolic of both his experiences as emcee and of his life. 
"He was the first intelligent man I knew who played the guitar," Katy says with a smile. "He loved music more than anything, but he was always aware of small things and small beauties."
 

On July 14, 2001, Dr. Stokes died of leukemia. On this 50th anniversary of All University Sing, we applaud -- with a more than acceptable level of enthusiasm -- Dr. George M. Stokes, Master of Ceremonies, Master of Sing.