The average Lawrence student has probably never heard the Lawrence fight song, even if they have been to countless football, basketball and hockey games. Now there is a group on campus trying to change that. The Lawrence University Pep Band, formed at the beginning of this school year, is sponsoring a contest for all creatively minded, music-loving Lawrence students. The challenge is to write a new fight song, with the chance of your musical genius being played at football games for generations to come.
Although hardly anyone has ever heard it, a fight song does actually exist at Lawrence. “Go Lawrence Go,” written in 1940, is not much more than a choral song, which is definitely not very inspiring. As Rob Strelow, head of the pep band eloquently puts it, “It’s about as fiery as a cold can of baked beans.” The band is looking for something new that can really help people get into the game and will hopefully bolster school spirit in general. The pep band is looking to utilize the talents of the many music students on campus, as this might be a fun way for people to assert their creativity and get some of their music out there for all the campus to hear. The contest will go on for the whole of second term, with the deadline being the first week of third term. During the beginning of third term, the pep band will put on Pep Band Week, during which all the submissions will be played for the campus and the songs will be gauged by applause to decide the winner.
The band is also planning on getting sponsorship for Pep Band Week and the fight song contest from businesses up and down College Avenue, as well as support from the residents of Appleton. It is definitely not a prerequisite that one must be in the Conservatory to submit. If you have a tune in mind, contact the pep band early and they will be happy to help with the arranging for the instruments in the band.
If you are interested, contact Strelow and the pep band as soon as possible to pitch your idea and get any assistance with the technical parts you may need. Who knows ***–*** it may be your song that fires up Lawrence students for years to come!