The strains of “Maryland, My Maryland” could once again ring out at Terps games in College Park thanks to an initiative to rewrite the lyrics to Old Line State’s song.
The Diamondback student newspaper at the University of Maryland reported Wednesday that the school’s president, Wallace Loh, has announced a contest open to the student body to rework the song, penned in 1861 by James Ryder Randall as a call for the state to leave the Union.
“Once you have [the new lyrics], if the band wants to play the music … at sports events, that’s up to them,” Mr. Loh said, The Diamondback reported. “And if people want to sing along the new lyrics that go with it, that’s up to them too.”
Prior to the beginning of this year’s football season, the student-led marching band made the call to stop playing the song, set to the tune of “O Tannenbaum.” The actual lyrics, however, were not usually sung by either the band nor spectators.
As the early backlash ensued from critics of the move, Mr. Loh took to Twitter on Aug. 29 to defend the decision.
“I stand in solidarity with @MightySoundofMD. Playing the song is under review. Aim criticism at #UMD leadership, not band members,” he wrote.
According to The Diamondback, submissions for the song contest will be accepted until Nov. 20, but will only be accepted from currently enrolled undergraduate or graduate students.
Even if adopted by the university, however, the current lyrics would remain the official state song until such time as the Maryland General Assembly changed it, a proposition that may have significant hurdles in place.
As the Baltimore Sun reported in August, Michael Busch and Thomas V. “Mike” Miller, the Democratic presiding officers of the state’s House of Delegates and Senate respectively, differ on how to alter the song.
Mr. Busch would like to scrap the song and start over from scratch while Mr. Miller favors adding some new lyrics and cutting out the more offensive verses. Legislation favored by Mr. Miller to that effect died in the House during the last legislative session, the Sun reported.
But it’s also unclear what position the state’s Republican Gov. Larry Hogan would stake out on the state song should it become an issue in Annapolis’ sights.
Mr. Hogan, up for re-election in 2018 in a heavily Democratic state with a significant black voter base, faced some blowback from his base of Republican-leaning voters earlier this year after he removed a controversial monument to Chief Justice Roger Taney, the author of the infamous Dred Scott decision, from the State House grounds.
“As I said at my inauguration, Maryland has always been a state of middle temperament, which is a guiding principle of our administration,” Mr. Hogan said in a statement defending the decision. “While we cannot hide from our history — nor should we — the time has come to make clear the difference between properly acknowledging our past and glorifying the darkest chapters of our history.”
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