We, the students, faculty, alumni, administration, community and friends of the University of Utah, hereby call on President Pershing and the ASUU to refrain from altering the University of Utah fight song, "Utah Man".
In doing so, we unequivocally affirm our support for all genders, races, ethnicities, and peaceful systems of belief. Consistent with Oxford Dictionary definition of "Man" #2: "A human being of either sex; a person", we believe each supporter of the University of Utah can consider themselves a "Utah Man" - similar to the whole of mankind being covered under "men" in such documents as the Declaration of Independence. We encourage all to sing this school song in a spirit of unity and pride in support of our great University.
On issues of "inclusion" we also admonish student government to avoid exclusivity in their decision-making and to cast the widest net of student voices. Simply put: put these issues to a student body vote. We also encourage an open dialogue with alumni and the broader University community.
Finally, we believe that anyone voting on potential changes to the U. fight song should be required to prove that they actually know the lyrics by heart and have sung it in at least one U. sporting event.
Please show your support and Go Utes!
Ki Yi!
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
April 24, 2014
April 23, 2014
I honestly did not think this would gain this much steam when I typed it out on my laptop at the kitchen table but look at where we are now. It is wild seeing so many people chiming in from all over the place because people really do care about the traditions even when others keep trying to push them aside. I have been reading through the comments all morning and it is just wild seeing the spirit behind this thing.
April 23, 2014
We are getting so incredibly near the one thousand mark and I really need everyone to keep this momentum going before the committee meets to discuss any potential changes. Think about all those times we chanted at the games and just hit that button to send this link everywhere you possibly can right now because this is the moment where we can actually show them how many of us really care about keeping the lyrics exactly as they are.
Reached 100 supporters
April 23, 2014
9 Comments
Can you share with us some of the "negative experiences" experienced by others, due to the lyrics of the school fight song? If I had heard legitimate "sentiment and narratives" of negative experiences caused by the lyrics of the song, as opposed to just unsupported assertions that the song is sexist and oppressive, I'd be more inclined to believe there is a legitimate need for making a change.
I wasn't asking for you to "out" anyone. Just to share these negative experiences that resulted from the lyrics of the song. A better understanding of what experiences people have had as a result of the song would help us all understand better the opposing side's position.
as a die hard 'Ute Fan Faithful' fanatic I really don't see why people are getting all worked up over this #UtahManAmI ordeal? It will play out in favor of not changing any lyrics and even if they did attempt to change them I guarantee that 99.9% of Ute fans will refuse it and NOT sing it any different at games/events. Relax 'U' cannot change a 100+ year old tradition #YeahItllBeOkay #GoUtes
I have spoken with many and no I will not out them so that they can receive your ridicule. Many people don't realize that this song isn't just sung at the athletic events, but also every year at graduation. I have heard from not only students, but faculty and alumni that they don't feel comfortable and included. Who are you to decide if their sentiments are legitimate anyways? Just because you may not feel the same, that should not make their feelings invalid.
When the lyrics were first written the pronoun was not written to refer to women and definitely was not written to include non-gender conforming individuals, but as a synonym for male. I don't understand why people could fight so adamantly under the guise of tradition. Why is it so difficult to recognize the negative experiences of others? As a university are we so apathetic that we would not even consider for a moment the sentiment and narratives of our peers?
You don't have to "out them" in order to relay their experience. You don't want to relay their experience because you don't have any to relay. 1. This isn't even the official school song, so if you are being highly offended by this song at graduation, maybe you should encourage the University to sing the official school song at graduation and not the fight song. 2. The term "man" was used to convey a term meaning any person. For you to argue the intent of the word is ridiculous. The song was created over 100 years ago and includes words like jolly, muss, and gang. 3. Most people who are "upset" about the bias and exclusion issues are people who didn't even know the words to the "FIGHT" song until somebody brought this up. I doubt they know the rest of the song and probably couldn't even figure out where the offensive lines are in the school song.
I have been to commencement many times and I have never heard them sing Utah Man. Not once. I have heard and seen posts from Faculty and Alumni also saying that they have never not felt included by the lyrics of the song and that this whole thing is getting blown out of proportion. There are a handful of students that do not feel included, but there are so many other reasons behind that than the lyrics of the fight song. ASUU took a non-issue and turned it into one, even holding an 'emergency' session to vote on it (and voting to overrule their own by-laws, mind you) so that they could push this through before the next student body president took 'office'. Its ridiculous. There are so many other issues about inequality and inclusion around campus that should be addressed long before this 'issue' should even be considered. If ASUU can't realize how much more of a negative effect this will have on the student body as a WHOLE then they're not giving the issue a fair chance. Put it up to a student vote-not an ASUU vote-and you'll see what people really think about this. ASUU did a poor job representing the views of the students at this University.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via . Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
By signing, you accept our Terms and Privacy Policy and agree to occasional emails about petitions. Unsubscribe anytime.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Copy link or share directly
We, the students, faculty, alumni, administration, community and friends of the University of Utah, hereby call on President Pershing and the ASUU to refrain from altering the University of Utah fight song, "Utah Man".
In doing so, we unequivocally affirm our support for all genders, races, ethnicities, and peaceful systems of belief. Consistent with Oxford Dictionary definition of "Man" #2: "A human being of either sex; a person", we believe each supporter of the University of Utah can consider themselves a "Utah Man" - similar to the whole of mankind being covered under "men" in such documents as the Declaration of Independence. We encourage all to sing this school song in a spirit of unity and pride in support of our great University.
On issues of "inclusion" we also admonish student government to avoid exclusivity in their decision-making and to cast the widest net of student voices. Simply put: put these issues to a student body vote. We also encourage an open dialogue with alumni and the broader University community.
Finally, we believe that anyone voting on potential changes to the U. fight song should be required to prove that they actually know the lyrics by heart and have sung it in at least one U. sporting event.
Please show your support and Go Utes!
Ki Yi!
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
April 24, 2014
April 23, 2014
I honestly did not think this would gain this much steam when I typed it out on my laptop at the kitchen table but look at where we are now. It is wild seeing so many people chiming in from all over the place because people really do care about the traditions even when others keep trying to push them aside. I have been reading through the comments all morning and it is just wild seeing the spirit behind this thing.
April 23, 2014
We are getting so incredibly near the one thousand mark and I really need everyone to keep this momentum going before the committee meets to discuss any potential changes. Think about all those times we chanted at the games and just hit that button to send this link everywhere you possibly can right now because this is the moment where we can actually show them how many of us really care about keeping the lyrics exactly as they are.
Reached 100 supporters
April 23, 2014
9 Comments
I am a fourth generation WOMAN at the University of Utah. My grandmother, at the age of 82, still proudly sings this song. I just don't believe that there was ever any intent to exclude women from this song. I also don't believe that there is any proof that when the lyrics were first written it was meant to refer to males only.
Can you share with us some of the "negative experiences" experienced by others, due to the lyrics of the school fight song? If I had heard legitimate "sentiment and narratives" of negative experiences caused by the lyrics of the song, as opposed to just unsupported assertions that the song is sexist and oppressive, I'd be more inclined to believe there is a legitimate need for making a change.
I wasn't asking for you to "out" anyone. Just to share these negative experiences that resulted from the lyrics of the song. A better understanding of what experiences people have had as a result of the song would help us all understand better the opposing side's position.
as a die hard 'Ute Fan Faithful' fanatic I really don't see why people are getting all worked up over this #UtahManAmI ordeal? It will play out in favor of not changing any lyrics and even if they did attempt to change them I guarantee that 99.9% of Ute fans will refuse it and NOT sing it any different at games/events. Relax 'U' cannot change a 100+ year old tradition #YeahItllBeOkay #GoUtes
I have spoken with many and no I will not out them so that they can receive your ridicule. Many people don't realize that this song isn't just sung at the athletic events, but also every year at graduation. I have heard from not only students, but faculty and alumni that they don't feel comfortable and included. Who are you to decide if their sentiments are legitimate anyways? Just because you may not feel the same, that should not make their feelings invalid.
When the lyrics were first written the pronoun was not written to refer to women and definitely was not written to include non-gender conforming individuals, but as a synonym for male. I don't understand why people could fight so adamantly under the guise of tradition. Why is it so difficult to recognize the negative experiences of others? As a university are we so apathetic that we would not even consider for a moment the sentiment and narratives of our peers?
You don't have to "out them" in order to relay their experience. You don't want to relay their experience because you don't have any to relay. 1. This isn't even the official school song, so if you are being highly offended by this song at graduation, maybe you should encourage the University to sing the official school song at graduation and not the fight song. 2. The term "man" was used to convey a term meaning any person. For you to argue the intent of the word is ridiculous. The song was created over 100 years ago and includes words like jolly, muss, and gang. 3. Most people who are "upset" about the bias and exclusion issues are people who didn't even know the words to the "FIGHT" song until somebody brought this up. I doubt they know the rest of the song and probably couldn't even figure out where the offensive lines are in the school song.
I have been to commencement many times and I have never heard them sing Utah Man. Not once. I have heard and seen posts from Faculty and Alumni also saying that they have never not felt included by the lyrics of the song and that this whole thing is getting blown out of proportion. There are a handful of students that do not feel included, but there are so many other reasons behind that than the lyrics of the fight song. ASUU took a non-issue and turned it into one, even holding an 'emergency' session to vote on it (and voting to overrule their own by-laws, mind you) so that they could push this through before the next student body president took 'office'. Its ridiculous. There are so many other issues about inequality and inclusion around campus that should be addressed long before this 'issue' should even be considered. If ASUU can't realize how much more of a negative effect this will have on the student body as a WHOLE then they're not giving the issue a fair chance. Put it up to a student vote-not an ASUU vote-and you'll see what people really think about this. ASUU did a poor job representing the views of the students at this University.
Help this petition grow
Share it with friends to help reach 1,500 signatures.
Sign Petition
We never post to your account. Social sign-in is used only to verify your signature.
Add a comment?
Your signature will be added via .
Tell others why you're signing — it's optional.
Signing with Google or Facebook verifies your signature instantly — no email needed.
By signing, you accept our Terms and Privacy Policy and agree to occasional emails about petitions. Unsubscribe anytime.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Petitions like this
Other petitions you might want to support
Scan to share
Anyone who scans this can sign the petition.
I am a fourth generation WOMAN at the University of Utah. My grandmother, at the age of 82, still proudly sings this song. I just don't believe that there was ever any intent to exclude women from this song. I also don't believe that there is any proof that when the lyrics were first written it was meant to refer to males only.