Notre Dame Fight Song Adding 'Daughters' to Lyrics to Acknowledge Female Students
Jun 3, 2022
SOUTH BEND, IN - OCTOBER 02: The Notre Dame band performs prior to an NCAA football game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on October 2, 2021 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, IN. (Photo by Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
The University of Notre Dame is making its fight song more inclusive ahead of the 2022 football season.
Notre Dame president John Jenkins announced Thursday night that the "Notre Dame Victory March" will include a reference to "daughters" in addition to "sons."
The song previously only made mention of "sons" in the line "While her loyal sons are marching/Onward to victory." Now the line reads, "While her loyal sons and daughters/March on to victory."
The change was made in conjunction with Notre Dame celebrating the 50th anniversary of Title IX and the 50th anniversary of admitting female undergraduate students into the university.
The "Notre Dame Victory March" was created in 1909, and the band first began playing it during sporting events in 1919.
It has become one of the most iconic fight songs in the history of college sports thanks largely to the success of Notre Dame's athletic programs, especially in football.
The Fighting Irish have won 11 national championships in football, with the most recent coming in 1988. They have also won double-digit games in each of the past five seasons, making them a perennial contender.
Notre Dame also has two national championships in men's basketball, but the most recent major title for the school came from the women's side.
The women's basketball team won the 2018 national title, posting a 35-3 record.
That was the second national championship won by Notre Dame's women's basketball team, and the women's soccer team has three national titles to its credit in 1995, 2004 and 2010.
