Tuesday, June 29, 2010
One thing you don’t mess with as a Jayhawk is tradition.
But in the wake of conference realignment, it’s hard not to think about revising a nearly century-old fight song with lyrics like “Talk about the Sooners, the Cowboys and the Buffs,” and “Talk about the Wildcats and those Cornhuskin’ boys.”
Now that Nebraska and Colorado have left the Big 12, “I’m a Jayhawk” will be revised to remove references to the Buffaloes and Cornhuskers.
First created in 1912 by George “Dumpy” Bowles, a student looking to leave a legacy at the University, the song eventually caught on and became popular in 1920. It was revised in 1958 for the Big 8 conference teams. Now, the song will be tweaked again to match the remaining Big 12 universities.
But one thing will stay the same: Students will have a say in the lyrics.
Jennifer Sanner, senior vice president of the Alumni Association, said as part of Homecoming Week, Oct. 18-24, there will be a contest giving students a chance to re-write the lyrics. The Oct. 23 Jayhawk Jingle event, which has been a singing competition in the past, will also become the platform for students to present their revised version of the song to a panel of judges.
“It just seemed like that would be the natural home for the event and we really wanted to involve students because they carry on the tradition,” Sanner said.
Though submissions will include newly written parts of the song, much of the fight song will go untouched. The revised areas will be concentrated to one part of the verse and two lines of the chorus.
“We still want to sing ‘I’m a jay jay jay Jayhawk,’ so to mess with it too much would probably disturb a lot of folks,” Sanner said. “But we probably don’t want to sing about Nebraska or Colorado come 2012.”
The song will not be officially changed until the conference changes in 2012.
Taylor Gardner, a senior from Leawood, said modifying the lyrics wouldn’t change the song for him at all.
“Nobody sings the lyrics so it only matters to me if the song stays the same,” Gardner said.
For those who think changing the lyrics will make a difference, Sanner said to rest assured; other traditions will not be affected by league changes. She said revising the song showed people that Jayhawk customs were strong.
“These are small changes that we envision,” Sanner said. “It draws a little more attention and reminds people of our history.”
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