I’m a bit embarrassed to ask this, but this is the first time I’ve thought to ask. What does “rock chalk” mean? Is it a command to get in there and listen to the teacher’s lectures? Or is it a type of stone? I honest to goodness don’t know and although I know I’ve heard the term before, I do not remember how it was applied or who said it.
Okay, I looked it up myself. I wasn’t too far off with the stone thought. This is a very short version of how it got started and by who. It started, they say, as Rah Rah, Jayhawks, etc. on a trip. But then changed to Rock Chalk. There are disagreements about exactly who changed it to Rock Chalk.
Here’s a tiny part of what I found:
“rock chalk jayhawk” is a rhyming chant made up by KU science professors due to the limestone rocks found near the Kansas campus.
Keep in mind, there is some argument about whether it was the science dept or the english dept (and there may be more arguments, I didn’t look very far) that changed it from rah rah to rock chalk.
By 
I’m a bit embarrassed to ask this, but this is the first time I’ve thought to ask. What does “rock chalk” mean? Is it a command to get in there and listen to the teacher’s lectures? Or is it a type of stone? I honest to goodness don’t know and although I know I’ve heard the term before, I do not remember how it was applied or who said it.
Okay, I looked it up myself. I wasn’t too far off with the stone thought. This is a very short version of how it got started and by who. It started, they say, as Rah Rah, Jayhawks, etc. on a trip. But then changed to Rock Chalk. There are disagreements about exactly who changed it to Rock Chalk.
Here’s a tiny part of what I found:
“rock chalk jayhawk” is a rhyming chant made up by KU science professors due to the limestone rocks found near the Kansas campus.
Keep in mind, there is some argument about whether it was the science dept or the english dept (and there may be more arguments, I didn’t look very far) that changed it from rah rah to rock chalk.