Fight on, Pennsylvania!

Last updated March 31, 2019

"Fight on, Pennsylvania!" is the University of Pennsylvania's primary fight song. The song's lyrics were written by Ben S. McGiveran (Class of 1923) during his sophomore year.^[1] The music was composed by David Zoob (also Class of 1923 and Penn Law Class of 1927). The copyright was held by the Houston Club. (However, the Houston Club was deemed unnecessary and replaced by a separate entity in 1929—the Houston Hall Board. The name Houston Club is still used as nickname for the student union.) The chorus of "Fight on, Pennsylvania!" is played by The University of Pennsylvania Band every time the Pennsylvania football team scores. The lyrics are also sung.

The University of Pennsylvania is a private Ivy League research university located in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Chartered in 1755, Penn is the sixth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. It is one of the nine colonial colleges founded prior to the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Franklin, Penn's founder and first president, advocated an educational program that trained leaders in commerce, government, and public service, similar to a modern liberal arts curriculum. The university's coat of arms features a dolphin on its red chief, adopted from Benjamin Franklin's own coat of arms.

In American and Canadian sports, a fight song is a song associated with a team. In both professional and amateur sports, fight songs are a popular way for fans to cheer for their team, and are also laden with history; in singing a fight song, fans feel part of a large, time-honored tradition. Although the term "fight song" is primarily used in the United States, the use of fight songs is commonplace around the world, but they may also be referred to as team anthems, team songs or games songs in other countries, even such as Australia, Mexico and New Zealand. Fight songs differ from stadium anthems, used for similar purposes, in that they are usually written specifically for the purposes of the team, whereas stadium anthems are not.

Houston Hall (University of Pennsylvania)

Houston Hall is the student union of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Completed in 1896, it was the first student union built on an American college campus.

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"Mighty Bruins" is a fight song of University of California, Los Angeles sports teams. Composed by Academy Award-winning composer Bill Conti, the song was commissioned by the UCLA Alumni Association on its fiftieth anniversary. It debuted in 1984 at the football game against Stanford University, with the school marching band conducted by Conti himself.

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"Victory March" is the fight song for the University of Notre Dame. The Rev. Michael J. Shea, a 1905 Notre Dame graduate, wrote the music, and his brother, John F. Shea, who earned degrees from Notre Dame in 1906 and 1908, wrote the original lyrics. The lyrics were revised in the 1920s; Victory March first appeared under the copyright of the University of Notre Dame in 1928.

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"Ten Thousand Men of Harvard" is the most frequently performed of Harvard University's fight songs. Composed by A. Putnam of Harvard College's class of 1918, it is among the fight songs performed by the Harvard Glee Club at its annual joint concert with the Yale Glee Club the night before the annual Harvard-Yale football game, as well as at the game itself. It is also played or sung at other athletic meets or other intercollegiate contests.

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On, On, U of K, also punctuated as "On! On! U of K", is a fight song at the University of Kentucky. Although it is primarily associated with the historically successful Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball program, the lyrics are actually specific to football. Aside from this song, the school is rarely referred to as "U of K" but simply as "UK."

Roar, Lion, Roar is the fight song for the Columbia Lions. It was originally titled "Bold Buccaneers" and written with different lyrics for the 1923 Varsity Show Half Moon Inn by Columbia undergraduates Corey Ford and Roy Webb.

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"The Cavalier Song" is the University of Virginia's fight song. The song was a result of a contest held in 1923 by College Topics, the University's student newspaper. "The Cavalier Song," with lyrics by Lawrence Haywood Lee, Jr., and music by Virginia Glee Club member Fulton Lewis, Jr., was chosen as best fight song while John A. Morrow's "Virginia, Hail, All Hail" was chosen as the best alma mater song.

"Fight! Wildcats! Fight!" is the official fight song of the University of Arizona. While "Bear Down, Arizona!" is easily the most recognizable fight song attributed to the University it was written 23 years after "Fight!" and is more accurately described as the official motto of the University.

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The Pitt Victory Song, one of the most popular and widely used fight songs of the University of Pittsburgh, is often played in conjunction with Hail to Pitt and the Panther Song. It was originally written by former to students of the university in order to solve the issue of the university not owning the copyright to "Hail to Pitt" which prevented the school from granting permission for its use during football radio broadcasts. Lyrics were written by G. Norman Reis and Louis M. Fushan. Music was written by Benjamin Levant. The song debuted in the Cap and Gown Club's 1938 musical production entitled Pickets, Please! Although commonly performed at university events, few people today know the rarely heard first portion of the song that occurs before the chorus. However, the most common cheer that is used during Pitt-related events and athletic contests is "Let's go Pitt!", which while perhaps derived from the song's lyrics, is often cheered even in absence of the song or music.

The alma mater of the University of Pittsburgh was adopted soon after the University changed its name in 1908 from the Western University of Pennsylvania to its current moniker. Lyrics were written by George M. P. Baird, class of 1909 and were set to the tune of what was then the Austrian National Anthem. A new tune for the "Alma Mater" hymn was composed by Charles W. Scovel, class of 1883, but it was not widely adopted and was either lost or became obscure.

The Cougar Fight Song is the official college fight song of the University of Houston (UH). It was written by Marion Ford with lyrics by Forest Fountain, both UH students. It is typically performed by the Spirit of Houston.

References

↑ The Scroll of Phi Delta Theta. 1921. pp. 68–.

External links

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[1] The Scroll of Phi Delta Theta. 1921. pp. 68–.

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Category Commons

v t e Fight songs of the Ivy League
"Ever True To Brown" (Brown) "Roar, Lion, Roar" (Columbia) "Give My Regards to Davy" (Cornell) "Dartmouth's in Town Again" (Dartmouth) "Ten Thousand Men of Harvard" (Harvard) "Fight on, Pennsylvania!" (Penn) "Princeton Cannon Song" (Princeton) "Boola Boola" (Yale)
See also Ivy League alma maters