BOAM Nominee #11: University of Northern Iowa

*University of Northern Iowa*

There’s a magic in the colors of
U-N-I,
Everywhere you go—
Purple & Gold
Pass By,
Panthers United
Is the reason why:
13,000 spirits make
U-N-I

Welcome to the UNI-Dome!
Home of thirty-three conference titles,
More than any Division I Iowa Team,
We sing the victory songs, our foes
Give the recitals.
Purple and Gold fill the arena!
There’s Purple T-shirts everywhere!
It is the wild call of the Panther faithful
That leads the Panthers on a merciless tear.
The UNI bloodline travels through the college system,
Through blood we fight the classes of failure’s cold,
Like Kurt Warner holding the Lombardi trophy:
It is UNI’s courses that lead to gold.

There’s a magic in the colors of
U-N-I,
Everywhere you go—
Purple & Gold
Pass By,
Panthers United
Is the reason why:
13,000 spirits make
U-N-I

It is midnight on Homecoming Friday,
The bells sound and Panthers race to the tower,
Old Lovers, New Lovers, and Fond Strangers
Meet as custom dictates at the top of the hour.
Cedar Falls is where many passions meet,
And when they meet, it is truly Homecoming,
Ladies are not Panthers until they join this parade:
Kissing by the campanile with their heart’s beat drumming.

There’s a magic in the colors of
U-N-I,
Everywhere you go—
Purple & Gold
Pass By,
Panthers United
Is the reason why:
13,000 spirits make
U-N-I

Below, you can find the link to the entire four-volume collection. And stay tuned for the seventh nominee which will be released this week! And while you wait, go ahead and keep up with the poems in Alma Mater Vol. 1 The Midwest, and predict which poem you think will be nominated next after today’s nominee: The University of Northern Iowa! The poems are released in the chronological order in which they appear in the series, so start reading and start predicting which comes first! And don’t forget to comment or contact the author with any feedback for which piece should or should not make the cut for next year’s release of The Best of Alma Mater!