Each year for Homecoming week, University of Iowa engineering students create a corn monument. This year’s design is a reference to some of the first-ever corn monuments, dating back to as early as 1919. It takes the shape of an obelisk, a four-sided pillar that tapers to a pyramid-shaped top. On two sides, ‘IOWA’ is displayed with a hawk overlapping the ‘O,’ and the remaining sides read ‘FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT FOR IOWA.’
A group of civil engineering students designed and built the monument, led by senior engineering majors Fernando Carrillo and Colin Meehan as captains, with co-captains Kate Ahrens and Bill Shouts.
“We went with a more historical design; obelisks have been done since the corn monument started in the 1910s/1920s,” Shouts said. “We thought it was a good design to do in the four-week timespan we had.”
The monument was built over the past month, but the captains began design work in the spring to allow time for final approval. With an earlier than usual Homecoming, the captains drew inspiration from past monuments to create a design that fit the time constraints.
“We elect our vice-captains, who will learn from our captains while they are building, and the captains will make sure they have a good understanding of what to do,” Meehan said. “Fernando and I were vice-captains under Gabe (Baird) last year, and because of that we were able to learn a lot of the logistics of getting Pentacrest approval to build it, land surveying people to spray where utilities are.”
This process of passing down leadership ensures that the tradition will continue for years to come. The corn monument is a longstanding staple of the University of Iowa’s College of Engineering, showcasing the skill and dedication of its students each Homecoming.
