HISTORY AND TRADITIONS

IOWA STATE

HISTORY

Enrollment (Fall 2018)

Undergraduates—29,621

Professional students—597

Graduate students—4,774

Total—34,992

Undergraduate enrollment by college

Agriculture and Life Sciences—4,397

Ivy College of Business—4,612

Design—1,742

Engineering—8,193

Human Sciences—3,770

Liberal Arts and Sciences—6,907

Approximately 43 percent women

and 57 percent men

Approximately 60 percent of

undergraduates are from Iowa

Iowa State University is one of the

nation’s leading land-grant universities.

Chartered in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural

College and Model Farm, it became the

nation’s ﬁrst land-grant institution when

the General Assembly awarded it the

state’s land-grant charter in 1864. The

college opened in 1868-69, and a class of

26 graduated at the ﬁrst commencement

in 1872. Graduate study was offered

almost as soon as classes began, and

the ﬁrst graduate degree was conferred

in 1877. The college was renamed Iowa

State College of Agriculture and Mechanic

Arts in 1898 and became Iowa State

University of Science and Technology in

1959. Today, Iowa State University is a

broad-based university of international

stature with more than 34,000 students.

Iowa State has led the development of

several ﬁelds of study that are central

to the land-grant movement, including

engineering, agriculture, human sciences,

and veterinary medicine. Extension, which

celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2003,

traces its roots to Iowa and early outreach

programs by Iowa State’s Adonijah

Welch and Perry Holden. The legislation

establishing the national Agricultural

Experiment Station system was written

by Iowa State faculty members Seaman

Knapp and Charles Bessey in the 1880s.

Today, Iowa State is a recognized leader

in many areas including plant and animal

genomics, materials sciences, analytical

chemistry, biology, physics, behavioral

studies, information assurance, virtual

reality, engineering, architecture,

landscape architecture, business,

journalism, kinesiology, transportation and

logistics, and education. Major research

initiatives focus on the bioeconomy,

food safety and security, combinatorial

chemistry, human/computer interaction,

and animal health.

HISTORY AND

TRADITIONS

University ofﬁcers

Wendy Wintersteen, President

Jonathan Wickert, Senior Vice President

and Provost

Martino Harmon, Senior Vice President for

Student Affairs

Pamela Cain, Interim Senior Vice President

for University Services

University Extension

University Extension’s six units extend

Iowa State to all Iowans: Extension to

Youth and 4-H, Extension to Families,

Extension to Communities, Extension to

Agriculture, Extension to Business and

Industry, and Continuing Education.

Extension programs throughout the state

establish personal contact with more than

1,000,000 Iowans annually.

Iowa State songs

Iowa State Fight Song

O we will ﬁght, ﬁght, ﬁght for Iowa State

And may her colors ever ﬂy.

Yes, we will ﬁght with might for Iowa State

With a will to do or die, Rah! Rah! Rah!

Loyal sons forever true

And we will ﬁght the battle through,

And when we hit that line

We’ll hit it hard ev’ry yard for I.S.U.

The Bells of Iowa State

Green hills for thy throne,

And for crown a golden melody

Ringing in the hearts of all

Who bring thee love and loyalty;

Dear Alma Mater,

Make our spirits great,

True, and valiant

Like the bells of Iowa State.

QUICK FACTS ABOUT IOWA STATE

George Washington Carver, one of the

nation’s most distinguished educators

and agricultural researchers, received

bachelor’s (1894) and master’s (1896)

degrees from Iowa State. The electronic

digital computer, one of the most

important technological innovations of

the 20th century, was invented at Iowa

State in the late 1930s by John Vincent

Atanasoff. Carrie Chapman Catt, founder

of the League of Women Voters and a

key strategist behind the ﬁnal ratiﬁcation

of the 19th Amendment, graduated as

valedictorian of the Iowa State Class

of 1880.

Iowa State aspires to be the best

university in the nation in advancing the

land-grant ideas and putting science

and technology to work. The university’s

mission is to create, share, and apply

knowledge to make Iowa and the world

a better place.

Iowa State history 41

Iowa State traditions 42

Iowa State University...

• Enrolled 34,992 students in Fall

2018 from all 50 states and

more than 100 other countries.

• Offers approximately 100

undergraduate degree programs

and nearly 200 ﬁelds of study

leading to graduate and professional

degrees.

• Sent 1,686 students to

58 countries to participate in study,

service-learning, and work abroad

programs in 2016-2017.

• Has Cyence, the university’s newest

supercomputer, which performs

more than 183 trillion calculations

per second.

• Is home to the world’s ﬁrst

electronic digital computer and

the encoding process essential to

nearly all fax machines.

• Has the world’s largest tornado

simulator for wind energy research

and the world’s largest highest

resolution immersive virtual reality

lab.

• Is located in Ames, Iowa,

which was named Best College

Town in America by the American

Institute for Economic Research in

2015.

IOWA STATE

TRADITIONS

Campanile

The story of the campanile is, in essence,

a love story. Edgar Stanton graduated with

the ﬁrst class of Iowa State in 1872. He

spent 50 years on campus as a student

and faculty member, becoming the head

of the Department of Mathematics,

secretary to the Board of Trustees, dean

of the junior college, vice-president,

and on four different occasions, acting

president.

His ﬁrst wife was Margaret MacDonald

Stanton, ﬁrst dean of women. When she

died, July 25, 1895, she had been closely

identiﬁed with the university for almost

25 years. Stanton wanted to establish a

monument so all students and friends

of Iowa State would remember her. He

ﬁnally decided to purchase and have

installed a chime of 10 bells in a detached

tower on central campus. President

William M. Beardshear helped him

choose the site, and the state legislature

appropriated $7,500 for the construction of

the tower and its clock.

Stanton died September 12, 1920, and his

will provided that after certain bequests

were taken out, the residue of his estate

should be turned over to the university for

furnishing a memorial to him. His second

wife, Julia Wentch Stanton, and the children,

decided to request that the university

install 26 additional bells, thus forming a

musical instrument which became known

as the Edgar W. and Margaret MacDonald

Stanton Memorial Carillon.

Campaniling

Since the story of the campanile is a love

story, the “campaniling” tradition makes

sense. The original 10 bells have increased

to 50, and their inﬂuence has grown

exponentially. A student ofﬁcially becomes

an Iowa Stater when he or she is kissed

under the campanile at the stroke of

midnight. During homecoming, hundreds

of students gather for mass campaniling.

Couples kiss, the band plays, and

ﬁreworks go off at the stroke of midnight.

Cardinal and Gold

In 1891, a college committee selected

gold, silver, and black as the Iowa State

College colors. In 1899, when the Athletic

Council decided to provide sweaters to

the student-athletes in recognition of their

efforts, the council found that it was too

difﬁcult to dye sweaters in these original

school colors. President Knapp had also

had problems tying the diplomas with

three ribbons representing the colors,

and according to the student newspaper,

the student population was ready for “a

distinctive and striking set of colors.” In

October of 1899, the Athletic Council

voted to change the colors to cardinal

and gold.

Cyclones

Iowa State became the Cyclones after

they leveled Northwestern in 1895. On

September 29, 1895 the Chicago Tribune

noted: Struck by a Cyclone It Comes from

Iowa and Devastates Evanston Town.

“Northwestern might as well have tried

to play football with an Iowa cyclone as

with the Iowa team it met yesterday. At

the end of 50 minutes’ play, the big husky

farmers from Iowa’s Agricultural College

had rolled up 36 points while the 15-yard

line was the nearest Northwestern got to

Iowa’s goal.”

In 1954, members of Iowa State’s Pep

Council decided that Iowa State needed

a mascot to symbolize new spirit for

the athletic teams. Since a cyclone was

difﬁcult to depict in costume, a cardinal

was selected, from the cardinal and gold

of the ofﬁcial school colors. Pep Council

ran a contest to select a name for the

new mascot. The winning entry, “Cy,” was

submitted by 17 people. The ﬁrst

to submit the name, Mrs. Ed Ohlsen

of Ames, won a cardinal and gold

stadium blanket.

Lancelot and Elaine

It was the climax of VEISHEA 1935.

A large ﬂoat, shaped like a swan and

carrying ﬂower-bedecked and white-

robed Iowa State maidens, emerged

from a smoke screen and glided its way

to the middle of Lake LaVerne. And then

the plaster swan unloosed its feathered

passengers: four swans. Two of the

swans were named Lancelot and Elaine

by student Jean Nesinwanger, who

won $10. Since that time, there have

been numerous Lancelots and Elaines

(including a pair of trumpeter swans

reintroduced to their original Iowa habitat)

and in 1944, 1970, and 1971 cygnets

(baby swans) were born. Swans take a

mate for life unless one of the pair dies or

is moved away.

ACHIEVEMENTS AND RECOGNITIONS

Points of Interest

• Iowa State University belongs to the

Association of American Universities,

which comprises 62 leading public

and private research universities in

the United States and Canada.

• Money Magazine named Iowa State

the best college value in the state.

• In its annual “America’s Best

Graduate Schools” issue, U.S. News

& World Report ranked Iowa State

programs in agricultural, aerospace,

and materials engineering among the

country’s top 25.

• Iowa State’s agricultural and

biosystems engineering program

ranked No. 1 in U.S. News & World

Report’s 2017 Best Colleges rankings.

• Value Colleges ranked Iowa State’s

graduate school as the No. 5 best

value, and its criminal justice program

No. 9 nationally in 2017.

• Iowa State was chosen for the Fiske

Guide to Colleges as a Best Buy

school for the 2017 edition.

• Fashion Schools ranked Iowa State

No. 1 in the Midwest and No. 3

nationally for fashion merchandising.

• Iowa State made the Military Times’

2016 list of Best for Vets schools.

Ofﬁce of Institutional Research

Dedicated to improving academic

achievement and increasing student

retention and graduation rates. This

$10 million facility is home to the

Academic Success Center, which

provides services directed to any Iowa

State student in need of academic

counseling or support.

The center includes a resource library,

computer labs, individual and group study

rooms, and meeting and classroom space.

It is also home to the Hixson Opportunity

Awards program and the Rod and Connie

French Athletics Academic Center.

Iowa State Center—This complex was

completed 1969–1975 by the Iowa State

University Foundation, entirely without

the use of appropriated funds.

The center includes three buildings:

• C. Y. Stephens Auditorium—

Showcases internationally

renowned performances of ballet,

musical theatre, and classical

music. Selected as Iowa’s Building

of the Century by the American

Institute of Architects. Seats 2,750.

• J. W. Fisher Theater—Provides

an intimate setting for the Iowa

State theatre department’s student

productions and dance events.

Seats 450.

• Scheman Continuing Education

Building—Ideal for seminars,

conferences, group meetings, and

art instruction. Houses Brunnier

Gallery and Museum. Includes

Benton Auditorium which seats

450.

Jeff and Deb Hansen Agriculture

Student Learning Center—Unique to

Iowa State and nearly all of the Midwest,

this learning center allows animal-human

interaction through teaching laboratories,

outreach activities and a variety of

functions for future and current students.

With four classrooms and a large

arena, this space is also utilized by the

community for a multitude of events.

King Pavilion—Provides a home primarily

for freshman students in the College

of Design’s Core Design Program and

sophomore students in the ﬁrst year of

their professional programs. King Pavilion

was the ﬁrst new green-constructed

building on campus and features Iowa

State’s ﬁrst green roof.

Memorial Union—After World War I

ended, there was an interest on campus

in erecting a memorial to Iowa Staters

who died in the war. After talking about

a bronze plaque or a gateway arch, an

outspoken group headed by the editor

of the student paper lobbied for a living

memorial—a building that would provide

Lake LaVerne, the home of Lancelot

and Elaine, was created with a $10,000

donation in 1916 by LaVerne W. Noyes.

Noyes, a wealthy Chicago philanthropist

and member of the ﬁrst graduating class

of 1872, funded a lake in what had been

a three-acre marsh area, fed by College

Creek. Another Iowa State tradition: If

you walk around Lake LaVerne three

times in silence with your beloved,

you are destined to be together.

Homecoming

Alumni ﬁrst began returning to Iowa

State for an ofﬁcial Homecoming in

1912. Since then, the celebration

continues to entertain both young and

old Iowa Staters with traditional events,

including tailgate parties, ﬁreworks,

lawn displays, “Yell Like Hell” cheering

competition, and mass campaniling.

Student Alumni Leadership Council helps

plan all of the Homecoming events.

The Hub

The Hub was formerly the depot of the

“Dinky,” a tiny, narrow-gauge steam

engine that ran between the college and

downtown Ames from 1891 to 1907. The

Dinky was replaced by an electric trolley

which operated from 1907 to 1929. The

Hub served as the bookstore until 1958

and was remodeled in 1987, 2008, and

2018. It now houses The Roasterie, a

coffeeshop which features beverages and

tasty treats. Another new addition to The

Hub is Heaping Plato, a Mediterranean-

themed spot that features homemade

pitas, high-quality shaved gyro-style

meats and fresh ingredients. There

also will be vegan, vegetarian and halal

options.

The Zodiac

Who knows what prompted that ﬁrst

student to step around the bronze zodiac

relic on the ﬂoor of the Gold Star Hall in

the Memorial Union, but for more than

70 years, subsequent students have done

likewise, understanding that to step on

the zodiac is to ensure that they will ﬂunk

their next exam.

It should be noted that staff, faculty,

and alumni members also detour the

enchanted circle, indicating the solemn

belief that bad luck may befall more than

just test-takers. The bad luck can be

dissipated by throwing a coin into the

Fountain of the Four Seasons directly

outside the door, but most students

don’t want to risk it.

Campus

Campus and recreation areas cover

1,984 acres. The following are

descriptions of some of our outstanding

facilities and collections.

Alumni Center—Completed fall 2008,

the Alumni Center was built to house the

Alumni Association and Student Alumni

Leadership Council. The Alumni Center

serves as an enhancement to student life,

alumni homecomings, and community and

alumni engagement.

The center was built using donations

to the Alumni Association with Roy and

Bobbi Reiman donating $9 million toward

the building’s construction. The building

is part of Iowa State’s “Live Green!”

campaign and uses geothermal energy for

heating and cooling.

Art on Campus Collection—Iowa State is

home to one of the largest campus public

art programs in the United States. Over

2,000 works of public art, including 600

by signiﬁcant national and international

artists, are located across campus in

buildings, courtyards, open spaces, and

ofﬁces.

Programs, receptions, dedications,

university classes, Wednesday Walks,

and educational tours are presented

on a regular basis to enhance visual

literacy and aesthetic appreciation of

this diverse collection.

Biorenewables Research Laboratory

(BRL)—This 70,000-square-foot-building

houses the Bioeconomy Institute as well

as research centers closely afﬁliated with

the Bioeconomy Initiative.

The Biorenewables Laboratory Building

keeps in the spirit of sustainability and

environment stewardships as an inherent

part of architectural design. The BRL

complies with guidelines adopted by

Leadership in Engineering and Design

(LEED). The greening of this new facility

includes sustainable products and building

materials, optimized energy performance,

rain water recovery, a chilled beam cooling

system, and native plants in the landscape

incorporating biomass crop specimens.

Cyclone Sports Complex—The

$13 million Cyclone Sports Complex

opened in the fall of 2012. It is the home

of Iowa State track and ﬁeld, soccer, and

softball. On-site restrooms, a concession

stand, home and away locker rooms,

ofﬁcials’ locker rooms, team meeting

rooms, an athletic training room, a press

box, bleachers, and a scoreboard are

among the new features that make it

a state-of-the-art facility.

Hach Hall—Houses cutting-edge

classrooms, lab space, and equipment.

Iowa State received a $10 million

commitment from Kathryn Hach Darrow

for the new chemistry building. The

building opened Fall 2010.

Hixson-Lied Student Success Center—

service to the college and preserve the

memory of those who were lost.

Students successfully rallied support on

campus and then widened their campaign

to alumni. By 1927, enough pledges were

collected to begin construction.

The Memorial Union opened in

September 1928. Gold Star Hall, at the

north entrance, serves as the memorial

with names inscribed on the walls of Iowa

Staters lost in World War I, World War II,

Korea, Vietnam, and the Global War on

Terrorism.

The Memorial Union lives up to its

mission to nurture common ground,

enrich and sustain individual lives, and

remember, by serving as a student gather

space and a hub for campus activities

and events. When students want to

get involved in one of 900+ student

organizations, catch a bite to eat, attend a

lecture or a job fair, or even just sit down

and catch up with a friend over coffee,

they come to the MU. The MU food court

is a popular place for meals on campus,

and the MU houses ofﬁces for Student

Activities, New Student Programs,

Event Management, Study Abroad,

International Students and Scholars

Ofﬁce, the Veterans Center, the Center

for LGBTQIA+ Student Success, and

many clubs and organizations. CyBowl

and Billiards provides bowling and billiards

for recreation purposes, The Workspace

offers art studio space plus classes and

walk-in events, The Maintenance Shop

hosts live music and events, and ample

study space is available throughout the

Memorial Union.

Morrill Hall—Home to the Christian

Petersen Art Museum, the Center for

Excellence in Learning and Teaching,

and the Center for Visual Learning in

Textiles and Clothing. Throughout the

years, Morrill Hall has housed zoology,

entomology, and geology classes and

labs; a library; chapel; and even a barber

shop from 1905-1908.

Constructed in 1891, Morrill Hall sat

vacant from 1996 until the $10 million

renovation began in the spring of 2005.

Parks Library—Parks Library holdings

include more than 2 million volumes

and over 97,000 current serial titles. The

library provides a rich array of information

available through an online catalog system

that may be accessed from campus

computers or personal computers located

off-campus. The system includes more

than 1,100,000 bibliographic records.

The e-library (lib.iastate.edu), accessed

through the Internet, provides access to

the library’s online catalog; indexing and

abstracting databases; electronic journals;

and selected Internet sites.

Reiman Gardens—The largest public

garden in Iowa, Reiman Gardens creates

a striking entrance to Iowa State and

the city of Ames on a 14-acre site.

The year-round facility features an

indoor conservatory, 2,500-square-foot

indoor butterﬂy conservatory, butterﬂy

emergence cases, gift shop, and ﬁve

supporting greenhouses. The Gardens

provide opportunities for learning through

a year-round education program and

special events.

State Gym—State Gym provides

space for open recreation programs,

ﬁtness programs, intramurals, Outdoor

Recreation, and sport club activities. The

facility features three full size basketball/

volleyball/badminton courts, two additional

basketball courts, two running tracks, an

indoor leisure pool, a 40’ climbing wall and

13’ bouldering wall, and 12,000 square

feet of weight and cardio space with

approximately 125 pieces of equipment.

Additionally, the facility has a ﬁtness and

wellness suite and a Whirlybird’s smoothie

bar operated by ISU Dining.

Troxel Hall—Troxel Hall is a state-of-the-

art science auditorium. It is one of the

most sustainable buildings on campus,

which incorporates sustainable strategies

such as zero run-off, natural daylighting

and energy recovery. The building is

named for Douglas D. Troxel, a 1967

graduate in mathematics. Troxel is the

chief executive ofﬁcer of The Change

Happens Foundation, which provided

the lead donation.