This November marks the 100-year anniversary of University of Wisconsin’s timeless “On, Wisconsin!” fight song, and to celebrate the legacy of the song, students can enter their own performance of the song in a university-wide competition that kicks off this week.

University Communications and the UW Library staff have been working since the summer to organize the aptly named contest, “Stand Up, Badgers, Sing!” Tricia Dickinson, director of marketing services for University Communications, said this contest is intended for the community to create personal versions of “On, Wisconsin!” The contest asks that competitors do not change the lyrics of the song, but rather create a unique performance of it.

Students, alumni and faculty can submit their videos on the contest’s website, onwisconsin.wisc.edu, and on YouTube. University Communications will judge the videos monthly and winners will receive UW apparel as prizes.

Dickinson said they expect students to treat the song and the competition with respect and not as a joke, and they retain the right to refuse posting any submissions that are deemed inappropriate.

Ironically, the song was originally intended to be for the University of Minnesota. In 1909, William T. Purdy composed the music and his roommate, Carl Beck, wrote the lyrics. As a University of Wisconsin alumnus, Beck wrote new lyrics and convinced Purdy to focus the music on UW, according to David Null, history liaison at Steenbock Memorial Library.

The contest is lasting all year to encourage people to celebrate the song well beyond football season. Dickinson said there would be a grand prize awarded to the group who presents the paramount video during the year. The prize is yet to be determined.

Dickinson said the song has been around for a long time, and this contest will allow the community to celebrate UW and to learn about the different ways that different people have used the song.

University Communications and the UW Library staff have also created a website that archives how “On, Wisconsin!” has developed and grown. Null said that the website includes multiple versions of the song. Additionally, the site illustrates controversies over who deserves the credit for writing the song’s lyrics, Null said.

Gwen Evans, a marketing specialist at University Communications, said the history shown on the website is intended to acknowledge the anniversary on campus.

“This is a lighthearted way for people to be involved and enjoy reading about something that they otherwise would not have known,” Evans said.

As the contest kicks off this week, Null said he hopes to get more versions of “On, Wisconsin!” on the website and hopes people will be able to see how much has been done with song over the years.

“Even though the fight song is intimately connected to the university, it has been used in a lot of different ways, by a lot of different people. This is a fun song, and we want everyone to enjoy it,” Null said.