Notre Dame changes fight song lyrics for anniversary of admission of undergraduate women

ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame marked the 50th anniversary of the admission of undergraduate women to the school with a redesigned campus entry circle and a lyric change to its well-known fight song.

The fight song’s chorus will now include the lyrics “sons and daughters,” University President Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., announced at a gala celebration on Thursday.

The reimagined fight song will now read as:

    "Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame.

    Wake up the echoes cheering her name.

    Send a volley cheer on high.

    Shake down the thunder from the sky.

    What though the odds be great or small,

    Old Notre Dame will win over all.

    While her loyal sons and daughters

    March on to victory."

The Main Circle will undergo a redesign to honor the impact women have had on Notre Dame.

“The success Notre Dame enjoys has been shaped by the extraordinary leadership and contributions of the women who have been and are a part of the Notre Dame community — beginning with the four Holy Cross sisters who arrived in the Indiana wilderness in 1843, to those who lead, teach, learn, minister and work here today,” Father Jenkins said. “On this occasion of the anniversary of the admission of undergraduate women in 1972, we celebrate the invaluable contributions of women as students and graduates. The re-imaging of the Main Circle will be a tribute at the heart of our campus to the ways in which these women have inspired, led and enriched us.”

The 50th anniversary coincides with the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Title IX prohibits discrimination in educational programs based on sex.