Following the largely negative response to our Sept. 19 letter ("Rally all of Notre Dame"), we feel we must clarify several points:
1. We love the Notre Dame Victory March, and yes, we sing it — loudly. We are simply suggesting a way to make it better.
2. We do not find the Notre Dame Victory March to be harmful to or marginalizing of women per se. Nonetheless, it does not reflect the totality of the student body or its athletic teams, which is the purpose of a fight song.
3. We recognize that we are not creating world peace or addressing the plethora of gender issues that pervade Notre Dame's campus. This does not mean that the gender-exclusivity of the Victory March is unimportant. Like we stated in our original letter, updating the fight song is an opportunity for the University to move forward on these issues.
4. For those who think the lyrics to the Victory March are a non-issue, we submit that the hostility towards our letter proves otherwise. Both the online comments and printed responses consisted almost entirely of insults, not legitimate counter-arguments.
5. For those who are apathetic to updating the lyrics of the Victory March: Instead of asking "Why change?" ask "Why not?"
Cody Gaffney
senior
Keough Hall
Kyla Wargel
senior
Lyons Hall
Sept. 20
