Chanting a school fight song, Lawrence
Address:
1301 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS 66046 [map this location]
Website:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h51be27dN8c
Phone Number:
785.864.3506
The Rock Chalk Chant is inscribed on this limestsone bench inside the KU Student Union. Photo: David McKinney/KU University Relations
KU Students singing the Rock Chalk chant. Photo: Chuck France/KU University Relations
Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU chant inscribed on stone bench in the Kansas Union, overlooking the Spencer Museum of Art. Photo: Jaclyn Lippelmann/KU University Relations
Custom: Chanting a school fight song
One of the best: The Rock Chalk Jayhawk chant
Best place to see the cheer being performed is at a KU basketball or football game. Or, click here to see it on You Tube. Or, click here to listen to the KU Men's Glee Club.
| Photo: David McKinney/KU University Relations |
You can see the chant etched in stone on the first floor of the Kansas Union. A display next to the steps illustrates the chant and its history. Also, a history panel documenting the chant's story is on the fourth floor.
THE CHANT
KU's world famous Rock Chalk Chant evolved from a cheer that a
chemistry professor, E.H.S. Bailey, created for the KU science club in
1886. Bailey's version was "Rah, Rah, Jayhawk, KU" repeated three
times. The rahs were later replaced by "Rock Chalk," a transposition of
chalk rock, the name for the limestone outcropping found on Mount
Oread, site of the Lawrence campus.
In 1897 it became the official cheer for the University of Kansas. The chant begins low and gradually builds in volume. There are pauses between each word to allow the students a few seconds to yell and scream. By the end of the chant, the gym erupts as students yell as loud as they can.
Since the early 1990s, Kansas fans have been known to do the
slow repetition of "Rock Chalk... Jay-Hawk... KU" when the Jayhawks are
believed to be safely ahead, guaranteeing a victory.In 1897 it became the official cheer for the University of Kansas. The chant begins low and gradually builds in volume. There are pauses between each word to allow the students a few seconds to yell and scream. By the end of the chant, the gym erupts as students yell as loud as they can.
EVEN TEDDY ROOSEVELT LIKED IT
The cheer became known worldwide. Teddy Roosevelt pronounced it the
greatest college chant he'd ever heard. Legend has it that troops
used the chant when fighting in the Philippines in 1899, in the Boxer
Rebellion in China, and in World War II. At the Olympic games in 1920,
the King of Belgium asked for a typical American college yell. The
assembled athletes agreed on KU's Rock Chalk and rendered it for His
Majesty.
Sources: http://www.ku.edu/about/traditions/; www.kusports.com; wikipedia
978 Arapaho Rd
Inman, KS 67546
Phone: 620-585-2374
Phone: 620-585-2374