competes in 22 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and wrestling; while women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field (indoor and outdoor) and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading, dance and eSports. Traditions Since 1903, students and alumni have rallied Bethany athletic competition with the "Rockar! Stockar!" cheer. Every year since 1882, Bethany Oratorio Society has presented Handel's Messiah at the college, one of the longest-running annual performances in North America. The walk from Bethany Lutheran Church. In honor of its founding in the sacristy of Bethany Lutheran Church, students traditionally walk to the church for a welcome service on their first day at Bethany as freshmen. Then, before the baccalaureate services on the day of their commencement, Bethany seniors line up in front of Bethany Lutheran Church for a traditional procession to Presser Hall on campus. The ringing of the bell. When a Swedes athletics team wins conference, they gather in front of Hahn Gymnasium to ring the bell and spread the news to the rest of the campus, regardless of what time of day—or night—it may be. Lift High the Cross. Each year during Homecoming week, Bethany students celebrate the college’s heritage of faith by lifting high a wooden cross in the gazebo. Students sign up for shifts so that the cross is held high during every hour of the week. The number of feet out that the fence is for a home run in Anderson Stadium is 352, and it is also the place all Swedes baseball fans gather to cheer. Notable alumni and faculty Randy W. Berry, United States Ambassador to Nepal John Frykman, Lutheran minister and psychotherapist Oscar Jacobson, B.A., Ph.D., painter and director of the University of Oklahoma School of Art, now known as the Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art. Harrison Keller, violinist and professor Ted Kessinger, football coach and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Emory Lindquist, 1930 Rhodes Scholar, Swedish-American historian, President of Bethany, President of Wichita State University Carl Lotave, art instructor and portraitist Bruce Montgomery, composer, performer, painter conductor, director Wade Moore, baseball manager and college football coach Bennie Owen, football coach and College Football Hall of Fame inductee John Pfeiffer, classical music producer Norman Reedus, actor (Attended a Semester) Birger Sandzen, artist, art professor at Bethany College Carl