UIW’s got game, but no song of its own

By Natalie Perez

LOGOS STAFF WRITER

Game season is around the corner for the University of the Incarnate Word’s Cardinal football team.

Everyone should be preparing for thunderous cheers and stiff-stadium seats, but singing along to an official fight song needs no prep. UIW does not have one.

Instead UIW has adopted the Notre Dame fight song — a famous song used across the United States at a number of different schools — minus any Notre Dame lyrics.

In 2009, Incarnate Word sponsored a fight song contest where applicants could submit an original composition comprised of melody, chords and lyrics to be picked as the official UIW fight song. The application is still online as a PDF, however, it has long been void.

Submissions were supposed to go to William Gokelman, chair of Incarnate Word’s music department, for contest entry. The deadline was Dec. 1, 2009, so submissions could be reviewed by a panel of judges.

“Several entries were submitted, but the selection committee did not choose a winner,” Gokelman said. “So, we continued to use the Notre Dame song. There has not been talk about when, or if, the contest would be reopened.”

As of right now, there are no plans for a UIW original fight song and the band will continue to play Notre Dame’s fight song.

“I think it would be great to have a song of our own at some point,” Gokelman said.

This has not put a damper on Cardinal fans though.

“I never noticed we didn’t have our own fight song,” English major Camille Garcia said.

“When you’re watching the game, a song doesn’t matter.”