Alma Mater
The words to the alma mater were written in 1926 by faculty member Wanda Neiswanger and Jennie Whitten as a homecoming loyalty song.
The original sheet music had been lost, but was discovered in an antique shop in San Francisco in 1981. It was returned to then-president Lloyd Watkins by Marcia Reid, an ISU alumna.
Reid's sister, Dr. Jane Chapmen-Gallon of Denver, Colo., found the piece while on vacation.
Alma Mater Lyrics:
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"Glory hast thou, might and power; proud the halls of ISU.
Deeds that live in song and story, loyal sons and daughters true.
So shalt thou in years increasing send thy grads of honest worth,
forth to bear with zeal unceasing wisdom's torch throughout the earth."
The fight song was written by Kenyon S. Fletcher, a teacher in industrial technology, in 1932. Fletcher apparently was the band director, too. Prior to the fight song, another song, "Normal Loyalty," was used.
When the Redbirds take the floor or field, the first stanza is sung by the crowd and a new, growing tradition of various Redbird teams is singing the song to the crowd following home victories. This has created a resurgence for the traditional school melody.
Fight Song Lyrics:
- "Go You Redbirds onto battle! Fight for ISU.
Raise the banner, red and White; to this emblem we'll be true.
So let us cheer the Redbirds on to victory! Every voice proclaim:
'We've got the fight! We've got the might! Let's win this game."
Click HERE to listen to the Fight Song.
