Unquestionably, one of the most impressive
sights in any stadium in the country occurs at the conclusion of
every half-time performance in Camp Randall Stadium, when 79,000
Badger fans rise as one and wave their right arms proudly as they
sing the final lines of the University alma mater,
Varsity.
This tradition dates to 1934 when newly arrived band director,
Raymond Dvorak, instituted the custom. The idea for the arm motion
was developed from a similar practice Dvorak had observed when he
had traveled to the University of Pennsylvania as an assistant
director at the University of Illinois. After Illinois had beaten
Penn, the Penn students sang their alma mater as they did only when
they were defeated. As Dvorak related it:
" ... Well, at the end of the song, they waved their derbies in the air to the words 'Hail, Hail, Hail' and I thought it was pretty striking so I stuck it in my back pocket. Later, at Wisconsin, one day when University President Glenn Frank was speaking, I cued the students beforehand to watch me and wave their hands at the end of Varsity. The song sort of became a toast to the President."
The tradition is the crowning moment at every Badger game, and it
has been said that during the playing of that time-honored melody
... "even hard-bitten sportswriters lifted their fingers from their
typewriters and stood in reverence."
According to Ray Dvorak, "Varsity is the best-loved, best-sung alma mater anywhere in the United States."