When the recently arrived class of 2014 sat on the steps behind Olin Library, discomfort was widespread. Many freshmen felt uncomfortable as a photographer from Panfoto directed them to sit still and smile for the traditional class photo, taken on an evening when temperatures exceeded 90ºF.
After the final shots were taken, the class was instructed to remain on the steps; collective anxiety awaited John Driscoll ’62, who would help teach the traditional Wesleyan Fight Song with the RAs. He and President Michael Roth, who later entered the scene to give his welcome, both acknowledged the heat before performing their respective duties.
I was one of those incoming freshmen, excited for the beginning of my four years at Wesleyan but also anxious – not just because of the oppressive heat wave, one of many that hit this region over the summer. This moment was part of a long arrival day, in which I felt the requisite pain that characterizes the transition to college life. One could say that the discomfort that came from the heat was a doppelganger for the unease of the arrival.
I knew that we were going to learn some traditional school song; the lesson would help assimilate the class into the Wesleyan community. And then the words hit me: “And then it’s fight for old Wesleyan/ Never give in…”
So that was it? A combative song to inaugurate our years at Wes? The anthem is definitely suitable for some Homecoming events, football games, or others that are supposed to boost spirit among crowds. It doesn’t fit an orientation scenario, much less one for a leading liberal arts institution.
I am aware of a large athletic presence on campus, and the need to preserve traditions – some of which date back to over a century ago – that unite the Wesleyan community around school pride. But is the Fight Song really the first school anthem that freshmen need to learn? The portion of “Battle Cry,” written by Clifford L. Waite, class of 1906, may be the most prominent ode to Wesleyan but, athletes notwithstanding, freshmen shouldn’t have to “fight for… Wesleyan” until they have been woven into the social fabric. They have their own personal demons to face.
Besides, the song adds another dimension to the school’s ever-present image dilemma. Wesleyan has struggled to define “the typical Wes student” for prospective families because there is none. This community is made of thousands of different individuals whose interests are so diverse that the only commonality is the fact that their personae are multifaceted. While championing personal and social diversity, as well as academic excellence, does Wesleyan need to evoke school spirit primarily through an aggressive, athletically oriented message?
Granted, it is a difficult balancing act for any school, especially a liberal arts school, to promote all of those facets simultaneously and without bias. But asking freshmen to sing a fight song before events such as the Common Moment – which truly exemplifies the multifaceted nature of Wesleyan – doesn’t accurately reflect the task of welcoming students to this institution.
This doesn’t mean that the Fight Song shouldn’t be included in Wesleyan life, let alone the orientation. With a catchy melody and lyrics, it serves its purpose in boosting morale across the Wesleyan community, as it has for well over a century. That particular song should be delayed for perhaps a couple of days, perhaps until after the Common Moment. The class may be more eager, although the transition isn’t completely over, to await the time when “victory crowns everyone.” A unit must come together before searching for victory, just like a sports team for whom the Fight Song is directed.
I wondered if there are other anthems for Wesleyan that go beyond the realm of the Fight Song, and I found them in the Wesleyan Songbook, a copy of which I bought at Waste Not. And The Wesleyan Spirits recently showcased several pieces from the songbook at a special a cappella concert on Sunday. They saved the Fight Song for last, as part of a medley of New England school anthems. Some of the preceding pieces were other vintage Wesleyan anthems that reference other facets of the experience, including academics, the campus, its traditions, and to the friendships formed there. For example, the school’s alma mater, “Come, Raise the Song,” (music by William B. Davis and lyrics by Frederic Lawrence Knowles, both from the class of 1894), contains the chorus: “O ivied walls, O storied halls, O shrine of long ago, / The altar fires our fathers lit shall still more brightly glow.” Instead of a competitive spirit, the songs evoke school pride by emphasizing the importance of the social and historical bonds that form a strong community.
Bear in mind that I do not propose doing away with the Fight Song completely – absolutely not. With a catchy melody and lyrics, it serves its purpose in boosting morale across the Wesleyan community, as it has for well over a century. This is merely a twofold matter of respecting traditions: making sure that they are used properly, and that others retain prominence.
Shatz is a member of the class of 2014.
21 Comments
another frosh
wow, i completely disagree with this article. the fight song is like a unifying wesleyan characteristic that everyone, no matter how “different,” “diverse,” or “multifaceted,” can take part in, regardless of class year
yet another frosh
i agree with ‘another frosh.’ i dont think anyone read so deeply into the significance of the fight song while we were sitting on the hill. it was just a rallying point, an icebreaker.
senior
just wait. you’ll get it
a senior
idiot.
alumna '07
Hopefully, sometime before you graduate you’ll look back on this Wespeak like you’ll look back on a lot of the beginning of your freshman year. I’m not sure if that feeling has a name, but it’s part embarrassment, part a sense of personal growth, part a new sense of humility and mostly just something you laugh at. It’s ok, we were all there once; some of us hook-up with people we later regret, some of us join clubs and activities we will later drop, some of us take a class we wind up hating and some of us write this kind of Wespeak.
PSA: Wespeaks live on on the internet forever, and unless the policy has changed, the Argus will not remove them later no matter how much you beg; Wespeaks are part of your indelible cyber-footprint. (This has nothing to do with what the author wrote, which I sincerely doubt will come back to haunt him, I just think it’s worth knowing.)
Alumnus '09
I will always keep fighting for ol’ Wesleyan.
alumna '07
PS: The list of places I’ve sung the fight song includes orientation, at the end of dance parties in lorise, at the beginning of WSA meetings, at WesWings, at senior week events, at a Broadway show with the rest of the audience (In the Heights, it was a Wesleyan event), at a bar in NYC, homecoming… multifaceted enough for ya?
alum '07
We only like the obviously antiquated and ridiculous fight song in an ironic sense. If you’re not enough of a disaffected hipster to realize that yet, you will be. Don’t worry.
Richard
Author has a point. Lining up students in 90 degree heat to sing fight songs conjures up neo fascist imagery.
Jason's acquaintance
Shame on you orientation team. Clearly you could have sent all the freshmen to somewhere that has AC for the welcome address and for teaching the fight song.
Richard and the author both have a point here.
anonymous
This is such a silly article. Yeah, the heat thing sucks, but when else is the freshman class going to be assembled all together? From simply a logistical standpoint, the beginning of Orientation is the only time teaching the Fight Song is even practical. This guy is reading wayyy too much into the “combative” nature of the song’s lyrics.
Krock
You are an ass. Grow up!
Haha
Your last name is Shatz
alum 05
Oh my god, child, shut up and go do your reading. Clearly orientation week is too long if you are thinking this much about it. The fight song is one of my absolute favorite things about Wes, I have happily sung it in around the keg in backyard parties, in bars, in Mocon (RIP), and most recently, at a fellow alum’s wedding, at a table full of rowdy Wesheads. It is a wonderful tradition, and with so many of Wesleyan’s other fun traditions fading away (again, RIP Mocon) I think we need to hold on to this one dearly. Happy to see the other comments supporting the song. Now go learn the words and get ready to belt it out at embarassing moments. It makes you one of us!
Jason Shatz
Well… Alumna ’07, I suppose that I have jumped the gun a little bit then?
And Alumna ’05, I regret that I did not visit MoCon when I first visited here a year ago. All I can learn about MoCon are from the pictures, and I’m sure that they can never do that spaceship/dining hall justice. R.I.P. MoCon.
Another Alumnus '09
You’ve been at Wes for barely a month. Where the fuck do you get off talking about Wesleyan’s history? All you know is what you’ve read in your college guide and what you mightve heard from upperclassmen. If you were to write this as an outgoing senior, maybe it would have some actual weight.
Fuck off.
@Alumnus '09
Sounds like a rather reverse aegist, ad-hominem attack: brush up your debate skills.
dsa
I don’t think it is appropriate for a freshman to write this type of article. It demands a retrospective viewpoint that author simply doesn’t have.
Well written, but lacking solid points and you should have thought about how stupid you look.
@Alumnus '09
there you go again ad hominem ;look it up I learned to avoid that debating technique pitfall in eighth grade (not the OP)
'05
lighten up, dude. just enjoy the song. get the stick out of your arse.
David Lott, '65
This young man should be listened to. He’s got the true Wesleyan spirit, that amazing ability to get serious about the parochial and trivial. Keep it up.
And bring back chalking.