"Hail Varsity" is the

fight song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...

of the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a public land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the Morrill Act of 1862, the school was known as the Universit ...

(NU), written in 1936 by Joyce Ayres and composed the same year by Wilbur Chenoweth. The song is often played at Memorial Stadium during Nebraska's football games by the

University of Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band The University of Nebraska Cornhusker Marching Band (also known as the Marching Red or The Pride of All Nebraska) is the marching band of the University of Nebraska and is part of the Glenn Korff School of Music within the Hixson–Lied College o ...

and at other athletic events by the school's pep band.

History

Prior to 1936, the University of Nebraska had a series of unofficial fights songs, most notably Dear Old Nebraska U. Fans lamented the lack of a song to "express Cornhuker determination" compared to similar schools with long-established fight songs. "Hail Varsity" was written and composed by Joyce Ayres and Wilbur Chenoweth in an effort to fill this role. It was first performed on November 21, 1936 at NU's annual Kosmet Klub Fall Revue, a student skit contest, by the school's Men's Glee Club. The performance was met with praise, and the ''

Lincoln Journal Star The ''Lincoln Journal Star'' is an American daily newspaper that serves Lincoln, Nebraska, the state capital and home of the University of Nebraska. It is the most widely read newspaper in Lincoln and has the second-largest circulation in N ...

'' called "Hail Varsity" "the new Nebraska song." When it became clear "Hail Varsity" was likely to be adopted in an official capacity, the school's newspaper, ''

The Daily Nebraskan ''The Daily Nebraskan'', established in 1871 as the ''Monthly Hesperian Student'', is the student newspaper of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Although many journalism students are on staff, the ''Daily Nebraskan'' is independent of the uni ...

'', urged students to learn the song's words and recite them at football games. Initially, "Hail Varsity" was often performed and sang in its entirety by the Men's Glee Club. Eventually, the Cornhusker Marching Band replaced the Glee Club as the primary performers of the song, and as it is typically performed in short bursts at sporting events, most of today's fans are unaware of the lyrics outside of the chorus. The University of Nebraska recognizes four other unofficial fight songs, " Dear Old Nebraska U", "March of the Cornhuskers", "The Cornhuskers (Come a Runnin' Boys)", and "Mr. Touchdown U.S.A." A fifth, "Band Song", is typically played as a lead-in to "Hail Varsity".

References

External links

Performance of ''Hail Varsity'' by the Cornhusker Marching Band
{{Big Ten fight songs University of Nebraska–Lincoln American college songs College fight songs in the United States Big Ten Conference fight songs 1936 songs