Written by alumnus Ralph A Williams in 1935 and adopted by Marshall College as its fight song. Penn State adopted “we are”cheer in 1947/1948 by their football team as a cheer against racial injustice. Although fans of Penn State adopted a fan chant first the Marshall band has been playing We are “The sons of Marshall” since 1935. Both schools have a claim on who did what first. In any event , I stand and rise to all, We are “The sons of Marshall... sons of the great John Marshall”