SALT LAKE CITY ― The University of Utah is seeking input on updating its fight song, “I’m a Utah Man.”
Some say the lyrics, which include phrases like “our coeds are the fairest,” are sexist, while others want to stick with tradition.
University of Utah President David Pershing has asked the Office of Student Affairs to form a committee that will weigh changes to the song, “Utah Man,” after student government leaders and a faculty body passed resolutions urging the changes.
The debate is not limited to the University of Utah.
Universities, students and alumni across the country have wrestled with new views and attitudes vs. sentiment and tradition. Some have led to change, while others have stayed the same.
The University of Mississippi
The school in 2009 trimmed one of its fight songs to discourage football fans from chanting “the South will rise again” after critics said it was an offensive reminder of the region’s intolerant past. But some fans continued chanting at the end of the song, “From Dixie With Love,” during Ole Miss band performances of the medley before and after games.
