Whats with the saying rock chalk jayhawk?

Answer 1

Where did that 'Rock Chalk JayHawk' chant come from, anyway?E.H.S. Bailey, who served as either chair of the chemistry department or a part-time professor from 1883 to 1933, wrote the cheer, according to his account in the 1917 Jayhawker, "When the Rock Chalk Came into Being."

"One morning, the science club needed a yell, and he just wrote one out," Berneking said.

The original chant that Bailey wrote was "Rah! Rah! Jayhawk, K-U," repeated three times. The staccato "Rah! Rah!" was changed to "Rock Chalk" a few years later, though reports are less clear on who made the change.

"Some say that he did it; some say that it was an English professor...

The mystery of the chant's origins, however, was very easily cleared up- "It's all up there in the Spencer Research Library," said Berneking.

Taken from oread.ku.edu/Oread03/Oct17/baileybench.html and youtube.com/watch?v=ddXfc0mQfxc

More Detail:

The chant was first adopted by the university's science club in 1886. Chemistry professor E.H.S. Bailey and his colleagues were returning by train to Lawrence after a conference. During their travel, they discussed a need of a rousing yell. They came up with "Rah, Rah, Jayhawk, KSU", repeated three times, which later became "Rock Chalk Jayhawk, KU". The abbreviations "KU" and "KSU" were both used to refer to the University of Kansas in those days because it was the only designated state university. What is now known as Kansas State University was named "Kansas State Agriculture College" at the time.

By 1889, "Rock Chalk"-a transposition of chalk rock, a type of limestone, that exists in Kansas, but only in the Cretaceous-age bedrocks of central and western parts of the state (more than 150 miles west of Lawrence) and on Mount Oread where the University is located, which is similar to the coccolith bearing chalk of the white cliffs of Dover-later replaced the two "rahs". Those responsible for the change are unknown with Bailey himself crediting the geology departmentand others an English professor.

Some Facts:

• U.S. president Teddy Roosevelt called it the greatest college chant he had ever heard.
• Kansas troops used it in the Philippine American War 1899, the Boxer Rebellion, and World War II.
• In the 1920 Summer Olympics, Albert I of Belgium asked for a typical American college yell, and gathered athletes replied with the chant.

Answer 2

]http://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=ddXfc0mQfxc

The chant was first adopted by the university's science club in 1886. Chemistry professor E.H.S. Bailey and his colleagues were returning by train to Lawrence after a conference. During their travel, they discussed a need of a rousing yell. They came up with "Rah, Rah, Jayhawk, KSU"[1], repeated three times, which later became "Rock Chalk Jayhawk, KU". The abbreviations "KU" and "KSU" were both used to refer to the University of Kansas in those days because it was the only designated state university. What is now known as Kansas State University was named "Kansas State Agriculture College" at the time.

By 1889, "Rock Chalk"-a transposition of chalk rock, a type of limestone, that exists in Kansas, but only in the Cretaceous-age bedrocks of central and western parts of the state (more than 150 miles west of Lawrence) and on Mount Oread where the University is located, which is similar to the coccolith bearing chalk of the white cliffs of Dover-later replaced the two "rahs". Those responsible for the change are unknown with Bailey himself crediting the geology department[2] and others an English professor.[3]

U.S. president Teddy Roosevelt called it the greatest college chant he had ever heard. Kansas troops have used it in the Philippine-American War in 1899, the Boxer Rebellion, and World War II. In the 1920 Summer Olympics, Albert I of Belgium asked for a typical American college yell, and gathered athletes replied with the chant.[4