Don’t you love when you ask a question and many times, people take that as a great time to be an expert?
Every time I ask a ku fan for the meaning they give me a blank stare and shrug thier shoulders. Every once and a while I’ll get one that makes no more sense like “a science professor was riding a train and heard it say rock chawk. So in other works they are saying that a crazy or blazed professor heard the train talk to him and therefore thought it was something they should say slowly and monotone like some cult at sporting events. If anyone had any other stories that they think explains this please share.
Here is the official answer, (I think).
According to the university, Kansas University’s Rock Chalk Chant evolved from a cheer that a chemistry professor, E.H.S. Bailey, created for the KU science club in 1886. Bailey’s version was “Rah, Rah, Jayhawk, KU” repeated three times. The rahs were later replaced by “Rock Chalk,” a transposition of chalk rock, the name for the limestone outcropping found on Mount Oread, site of the Lawrence campus.
So there you have it. Another mystery solved.
Sounds like my old alma mater..
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