Fencing has a long and varied history at the University of Chicago.  In 1892, the founders of the University included fencing as one of the activities complimenting the education and well-being of the ideal renaissance student.  The varsity team developed and grew into a powerhouse--winning the Big Ten Championship seven times between 1930 and 1941.  As the years progressed, numerous All-Americans and several Olympians were to result from the program.  In the middle of the century, when the University re-centered itself around an academic focus, all varsity teams at the school were cancelled with the exception of fencing and gymnastics.  Fencing prevailed as one of the more successful sports at the University of Chicago until 1996.

After one hundred and four years of history, the varsity team was cancelled by the school's Athletics department.  A huge uproar resulted, and several different explanations of the team's demise were circulated. You can read an account of this period here by Andrew Chang (Sabre 1992 - 96).

Fencing all but disappeared for the 1996 - 97 season.  In 1998 a small club surfaced, which grew into a successful and respected team thanks to the efforts of a few dedicated team members.  The club is still one of the few teams at the University of Chicago which successfully competes against Big Ten schools such as Notre Dame and Ohio State.  The revived team, following in the footsteps of the University itself, aptly chose their motto to be "Rising from the ashes."

We have recently begun a project to piece together the history of the fencing team here at the University, starting with a list of all the alumni from the team.  This is what we have so far.

If your an alumn that would like to be added please contact Gabriella