After the university was created, the free-state stronghold of Lawrence was still full of Jayhawkers. The first mention of the Jayhawk being attributed to the university wasn't until 1886 when chemistry professor E.H.S. Bailey wrote a school cheer in which the students would chant "Rah, Rah, Jayhawk" (via the University of Kansas). The university history continues to explain that eventually "in place of the Rahs, an English professor suggested 'Rock Chalk,' a transposition of chalk rock, the name for the limestone outcropping found on Mount Oread, the site of the Lawrence campus."

"Rock, Chalk, Jayhawk" grew into one of the most recognized college cheers chanted at university sporting events. In fact, even Harvard alum Theodore Roosevelt was impressed by the cheer and the enthusiasm behind it, stating that was "the greatest college cheer ever devised" (per WKBW News). Clearly, this mascot and the chants of KU fans at every sporting event (hear it on YouTube) have made an impact on college sports. But the Jayhawk is much more so than that. It's the reminder of the struggles of those who fought against slavery, and of their successes in keeping Kansas from joining the ranks of the slave-holding states.

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