The first school colors, black and cadet gray, were picked in 1891 by the new student-run Athletic Association to reflect the principal colors of the cadet uniforms worn by the all-male, military student body. But when the black and gray appeared on athletic uniforms in the striped style popular in the late 19th century, athletes complained that the stripes made them look like convicts. The corps of cadets and a few other people from the college then banded together to examine the question of colors. They discovered that no other college or university in the country had orange and maroon as its school colors, so burnt orange and Chicago maroon were adopted in 1896 as the official colors.