The Student Union Senate approved Brandeis' first official fight song at its Oct. 29 meeting despite some senators' concerns.The fight song, written by Amelia Liebhold '08, is the first in the University's history, according to Liebhold. Before writing the song, Liebhold said she searched in the library archives and old Brandeis yearbooks.

While she did not find a pre-existing fight song, Liebhold said she did discover the words to three Brandeis football songs. She said a research librarian called Brandeis alumni who graduated between 1954 and 1958, but no one who was reached recalled the melodies to the songs.

Senator-at-Large Shreeya Sinha '09 said at the Oct. 22 Senate meeting that she was not comfortable with introducing the new fight song without student body approval. This concern postponed voting on the song until the following week, when it was ratified.

Liebhold said she was inspired to write the song after the creation of the Brandeis marching band, which is led by Jordan Rothman '09, earlier this semester. It is "very important for school spirit that we have a fight song," Liebhold said.

The song consists of a three-page score and was written specifically to suit Brandeis's marching band.

Liebhold and Rothman will distribute lyrics to the fight song and play it this Thursday at LouiePalooza, a pep rally to kick off the basketball season. Rothman said he hopes the song will inspire school spirit, something he said is needed at Brandeis.

So far, the marching band has played the fight song at one rugby game.

Rothman and Liebhold said the band will play the song for "anyone who wants it," and will play at basketball halftime shows and soccer games. The song is played fast, she said, when Brandeis scores a goal in rugby, for example.

Liebhold, a History and East Asian studies major, plays the trumpet in the marching band, and the fight song is the first piece she has ever composed. But don't expect more from her due to the difficulty of composing, she said the song was a "one-shot deal.