Notre Dame adds 'daughters' to fight song to mark anniversary of admission of undergraduate women

As explained on the official website for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, former university president Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh changed the institution forever in 1972 when he decided to admit female undergraduate students. 

Notre Dame marked the 50th anniversary of that historic moment on Thursday and announced that fans will hear a noticeable change in the future, particularly during upcoming football games. 

Per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN, the previous version of the "Notre Dame Victory March" originally written by Rev. Michael Shea and his brother, John, in 1908 included the lines: 

"Cheer, cheer for old Notre Dame. Wake up the echoes cheering her name. Send a volley cheer on high. Shake down the thunder from the sky. What though the odds be great or small, old Notre Dame will win over all. While her loyal sons are marching onward to victory." 

Those lyrics are now to be sung: 

"While her loyal sons and daughters march on to victory." 

The new rendition of the tune debuted at a gala held on the Notre Dame campus on Thursday.

The song's original version was first played on the campus on Easter Sunday in 1909, but it was later "improved" and arranged to what is known by millions of fans today by then-band director Joseph Casasanta in 1928. 

According to Rittenberg, Notre Dame's first women's varsity athletic teams began participating in tennis and fencing competitions in 1976.