In 2009, incoming first-year University of Iowa students started a new tradition.
During Orientation, they pledged to meet the goals set forth in the new IOWA Challenge. They promised to strive to excel in the classroom; stretch by learning from diverse people, ideas, and experiences; engage in campus activities; make wise choices; and serve both the campus and local community.
Herky’s Fall 2012 Tour
Chemistry Building: Sept. 10–24
Pappajohn Business Building: Sept. 24–Oct. 8
Trowbridge Hall: Oct. 8–22
Phillips Hall: Oct. 22–Nov. 5
Lindquist Center: Nov. 5–21
Seamans Center: Nov. 21–Dec. 10
Iowa Memorial Union: Dec. 10–15
Spring 2013 tour to be announced.
Then they sealed this pledge by signing their names on a 5-foot-tall Fiberglas Herky. (The statue, lunging forward, its fist raised in pride, is similar to those used in the Herky on Parade public art project in 2004.)
“Signing Herky was the first time I engaged in the IOWA Challenge,” says Nic Pottebaum, a senior economics and political science major from Marion, Iowa, and the current president of University of Iowa Student Government. “Knowing that my signature is on that statue has continually renewed my commitment to the five expectations of the challenge.”
This fall, Pottebaum and the rest of the class of 2013 will be reunited with their autograph-adorned Herky as he celebrates their senior year and reminds them of that first-year pledge during a tour of campus.
“Herky’s tour will give the class of 2013 a fun opportunity to look back to their earliest commitment to the IOWA Challenge as they complete their University of Iowa education and move into the world as representatives of this great university,” says Tom Rocklin, vice president for student life.
Herky will began his tour this week in the Chemistry Building and will continue on to six additional buildings on the east side of campus this semester.