FRIDAY-SUNDAY, MAY 20-22, 2005
005
GRADUATION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
5
di st on tra-
eReus
nsan file photo
KU: READ ALL ABOUT IT
KU has consistently been ranked in the top 50 of public universities by U.S.News and World Report
KU is the third best buy among public universities in 2005 according to Fiske's Guide to Colleges
KU's in-state tuition is among the lowest of schools in the Big 12 Conference
Chancellor Robert Hemenway's goal is to make KU a Top 25 school in the coming years
In 2002, KU was ranked as the ninth-best party school in the nation by Playboy
Earlier this month, KU was reaccredited for 10 years, the maximum amount allowed, according to University Relations
Stongest programs at the University of Kansas, according to Fiske's Guide to Colleges in 2002, include architecture and urban design, education, environmental studies, journalism, nursing/pharmacy and social welfare
— Compiled by Bailey DeReus
Mount Oread TRADITIONS
Information reprinted with permission from University Relations Compiled by Betsy McLeod
SCHOOL SONGS
CRIMSON AND THE BLUE
Far above the golden valley Glorious to view, Stands our noble Alma Mater, Towering toward the blue
CHORUS
Lift the chorus ever onward,
Crimson and the blue
Hail to thee, our Alma Mater,
Hail to old KU
Far above the distant humming Of the busy town, Reared against the dome of heaven, Looks she proudly down
(REPEAT CHORUS)
Kansan file photo
Greet we then our foster mother, Noble friend so true, We will ever sing her praises, Hail to old KU
(REPEAT CHORUS)
I'M A JAYHAWK
By George "Dumpy" Bowles
Talk about the Sooners
The Cowboys and the
Buffs,
Talk about the Tiger and
his tail,
Talk about the Wildcats,
and those Cornhuskin'
boys.
But I'm the bird to make
But I'm the bird to make 'em weep and wail
CHORUS:
'Cause I'm a Jay, Jay,
Jay, Jay, Jayhawk,
Up at Lawrence on the
Kaw
'Cause I'm a Jay, Jay,
Jay, Jay, Jayhawk,
With a sis-boom, hip
hoorah
Got a bill that's big enough
To twist the Tiger's tail
Husk some corn and listen
To the Cornhuker's wail
'Cause I'm a Jay, Jay,
Jay, Jay, Jayhawk,
Jayhawk,
Jay, Jay, Jayhawk,
Riding on a Kansas gale
jayhawk fans throw newspaper confetti into the air as a home basketball game begins last fall.
Birth of Jayhawk songs: Sing them loud, sing them often
College students and faculty used to make up school songs — and sing them. Many have faded away, but two struck a responsive chord and still are sung enthusiastically.
In 1891, professor George Barlow Penny searched for a school song for the Glee and Mandolin Club to sing on a tour. Just before departure, he thought of Cornell's "Far Above Cayuga's Waters." Changing a few
words, Penny taught it to the glee club. The campus has been singing "Crimson and the Blue" ever since.
George "Dumpy" Bowles, class of 1912, longed to make a contribution to KU spirit. He wasn't football-sized, but he could write music. One of his musical shows had a song called "I'm a Jayhawk." Written in 1912, it became a hit with students in 1920. The 1926 glee club performed it nationally.
Chant enjoys illustrious career
The University Science Club officially adopted the famous "Rock Chalk" chant in 1886. A chemistry professor, E.H.S. Bailey, and some of his associates were returning from a conference by train to Lawrence.
As they traveled, they talked of the need for a good, rousing vell.
The click-clack of the train wheels passing over the rail joints suggested a rhythm and a cadence to them.
At first, their version was "Rah, Rah, Jayhawk, KU" repeated three times. Later, in place of the "rahs," an English professor suggested "Rock Chalk," a transposition of
chalk rock, the name for the limestone outcropping found on Mount Oread, site of the Lawrence campus.
The cheer became known worldwide. President Teddy Roosevelt said it was the greatest college chant he'd ever heard. Kansas troops used it while 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 vell.
The assembled athletes agreed on Rock Chalk and rendered it for His Majesty.
Jayhawks haven't always bled crimson and blue
maize and blue were shown at oratorical meets, and they may have colored the Kansas crew in rowing competitions in the mid-1880s. But in 1890, when football arrived on campus, a
The University's colors have been crimson and blue since the early 1890s. Originally, the Kansas Board of Regents decided to adopt the University of Michigan's colors: maize and sky blue.
clamor arose for Harvard's crimson to honor Col. John J. McCook, a Harvard man who had given money for the KU athletic field.
Faculty members who had graduated from Yale insisted that their academic lineage and Yale blue not be overlooked.
In 1896, the University officially adopted crimson and blue.
Jayhawk: From passion to pride
The University of Kansas Jayhawk is a mythical bird with a fascinating history. The term "Jayhawk" was probably coined about 1848. The name combines two birds — the blue jay, a noisy, quarrelsome bird known to rob other nests, and the sparrow hawk, a stealthy hunter. The message here: Don't turn your back on this bird.
During the 1850s, the Kansas Territory was filled with such Jayhawks. The name stuck especially in Lawrence, where the University would come to exist.
During the Civil War, the Jayhawk's ruffian image gave way to patriotic symbol. Kansas Governor Charles Robinson raised a regiment called the Independent Mounted Kansas Jayhawks. By war's end, Jayhawks were synonymous with the impassioned people who made Kansas a free state. In 1886, the bird appeared in a cheer — the famous Rock Chalk chant. When KU football players first took the field in 1890, it seemed only natural to call them Jayhawkers.
It is Harold D. Sandy's 1946 design of a smiling Jayhawk that survives. The design was copyrighted in 1947.
In the 1960s, the Jayhawk went 3-D when the University of Kansas Alumni Association provided a mascot costume. In 1971, during Homecoming halftime, a huge egg was hauled out to the 50-yard line, and fans witnessed the hatch of Jay's companion — "Baby Jay."
1941
1946