From Class Project to Rallying “Broncos Country Anthem”

The story of how two CU Denver Business students turned a class assignment into a viral song, dance, and music video.

By Daniela Ibarra-Hernandez, student marketing assistant at the Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship

With today’s constant digital noise, it’s rare to see a simple school assignment transcend into a viral sensation that places its creators in the online spotlight. But that’s exactly what happened to Daiquan Hill (aka QuanThaSav) and Vladimir Henry (aka Milo Madness) during the Spring 2025 semester. The two undergraduate CU Denver students decided to create a song for extra credit in ISMG 2050 – Business Problem-Solving Tools, a Business School course taught by Leonard Dixon, an instructor of Information Systems and Entrepreneurship.

“I wanted them to see that being creative and taking risks can be rewarding and that a project from class can grow into something bigger,” Dixon said.

The assignment was originally framed around a simple prompt: How can a creative project inspire the community to celebrate and thank the Denver Broncos? But for Hill and Henry, the project resonated with their personal principles and city pride.

“I’ve always just been the same person, just uniquely myself,” said Hill, who credits his mother’s hard work as a single parent for being the emotional inspiration for the project. That foundation of resilience and dedication was then expanded into a tribute to the Denver Broncos and to the power of going the extra mile. They collaborated on lyrics, put them to a beat, and eventually landed on a final product to turn in. The positive feedback they received from fellow classmates inspired them to think bigger.

Hill began filming the music video for “Broncos Country Anthem” in various locations around the Auraria Campus. Henry then created the 5280 Shuffle, a choreographed dance labeled “the ultimate touchdown celebration” that added a viral element to the campaign. They also tagged the song and dance to Madness Mentality, a brand and social movement that promotes mental health awareness.

Dixon was instrumental in securing the financial and promotional resources needed to scale the project. He sourced additional funds from an applied learning organization and contributed his own money to support the high-quality production.

“I wanted my student to experience what it feels like when a project reaches a professional level that others will take seriously,” Dixon said.

They didn’t stop there. The three-part team then executed a multi-platform marketing strategy based on class content. Dixon even shared the project with university leadership and local media outlets, which led to a feature on CBS News Colorado.

Ultimately, the project exemplifies how even an academic assignment can become something much bigger with the right entrepreneurial spirit

“I did not ask permission or wait for the university to pay for it,” Dixon said. “I decided to invest and manage the budget myself. … It was risky because professors often face pressure to keep activities uniform across multiple class sections. I also knew some might question how this project connects to an Information Systems course. But I wanted my students to see how creativity and innovation can apply to any problem-solving in business.”

This strategic approach paid off; the song has now been played at Empower Field during Broncos games, and the video has garnered over 26,000 views online.

By connecting classroom lessons with students’ interests, Dixon created an applied learning opportunity that bridged the gap between education and the real world.