"World's Greatest College Cheer"

Student Success: KU Student Handbook:

"World's Greatest College Cheer"

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 yell. 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. Teddy Roosevelt pronounced it the greatest college chant he'd ever heard. It was used by Kansas troops fighting in the Philippines in 1899, in the Boxer Rebellion in China, and World War II. At the Olympic games in 1920, the King of Belgium asked for a typical American college yell. The assembled athletes agreed on KU's Rock Chalk and rendered it for His Majesty."