When Michigan University won the 2024 college football National Championship, “Hail to the Victors” rang across NRG Stadium in Houston. This past year, the Fighting Irish celebrated the 155th anniversary of “Victory March.” November saw Yale seal its victory over Harvard with a rousing performance of “Down the Field.” 

These fight songs excite competitive energy and fierce enthusiasm in college students. They stand apart from processional alma maters as brassy hype marches meant to rally cheering fans and stir school spirit. Rooted in university tradition, they represent identity, legacy, and pride. 

Hillsdale is among the finest of these colleges, equal in prominence, excellence, and heritage. So where is Hillsdale’s fight song? Where is our rallying call? It lays buried, lost in the decline of Charger pride over the past three decades. It’s time to bring it back. 

Written by Michigan composer Jerry Bilik, Hillsdale’s official fight song “Charge On!” debuted at the homecoming football game in 1968. The Jackson High School marching band performed it before hundreds of cheering students and returning alumni. The fight song, along with the new warhorse mascot, ushered in the new team name “Chargers.” 

Since their beginning in 1879, Hillsdale sports teams have carried many names — “the Hillsdales,” “the Dales,” “the Hilltoppers,” “the Blue and Whites,” and “the Baptist Boys.” This flux ended in 1968 when the students favored “Chargers” be their official name in a vote. According to the students, “Chargers” not only paid dual homage to the popular athletic lightning bolt emblem and a rearing warhorse but also captured the spirit of excellence and strength that Hillsdale cherished. 

“Charge On!” embodies this mighty spirit of the “Chargers.” Its lyrics demand persevering in the fight, raising the score, and marching forward in truth. The lines call the students on and off the field to join their voices together in the battle against injustice: 

“With honor our standard, justice our shield, and the love with in us, the Hillsdale students march afield…’Till the unjust few are gone, the White and Blue march on!” 

These rousing lines unite the fierce Charger spirit with Hillsdale’s core values of honor, justice, and love rooted in the Western liberal arts Hillsdale teaches. In a simple marching song, “Charge On!” marries the athletic heritage of excellence with the academic legacy of virtue. It incarnates Hillsdale tradition. 

“Charge On!” also unites generations of students, past and present. The 1968 homecoming introduced an era of energetic Charger pride. Decades of yearbooks illustrate loyal sport fans, busy athletic clubs, and a full embrace of Charger identity. Self-named Bleacher Creatures shouted original cheers from the stands while men’s bare chests spelled out “Chargers” in blue and white paint. 

Unfortunately, much of this energy is lost on today’s campus. The stands are empty. Game schedules are forgotten. Few non-athletes can name Hillsdale’s biggest rival, know if the football team won its last game, or say the last time they attended a non-homecoming sports event, if they have at all. This apathy divorces us from our tradition of Charger pride. We no longer carry the banner our predecessors held high. For a school that cherishes tradition, this is a tragedy. 

The disinterest also segregates our campus. There is no unity under the Charger name. Instead, there are up-the-hill Hillsdale students and down-the-hill Charger athletes. Students call themselves “Hillsdalians” or “Hillsdale students,” not “Chargers.” This divide only feeds back into the vicious cycle of empty stands, lost interest, and forgotten legacy. 

Reviving “Charge On!” will reunite us with each other and past generations of Chargers. It offers a banner under which all sides of campus have rallied before and can rally again. As the song says, “Sing on! In the chorus unite; Sing on, the Blue and the White.” 

This unity doesn’t happen overnight. It takes gradual steps to build back Charger culture.  

But it begins with playing “Charge On!” in the union, challenging friends to memorize the lyrics, and calling ourselves Chargers. It starts with getting a group together to attend a basketball game and singing along as the pep band plays our fight song. It spreads by getting to know the numerous athletes in our classrooms and teaching “Charge On!” during freshman orientation. 

Culture doesn’t change easily. But it’s worth it for the identity, the tradition, and the pride in our alma mater, Hillsdale College.