I write to you today to express concern with the FIU alam mater contest currently being run by the FIU School of Music.
The concern comes from the ties that bind us, the students, the alumni, staff and faculty of Florida International University together.
From the Latin [language] alma mater means “nourishing mother,” and I like to prepose that the current lyrics respond to that definition in the best ways posible.
When singing it the many years of FIU graduates are brought together through our common bond of singing the praise of this great institution.
The current song calls for us to come together and pledge ourselves with “humble faith and loyalty,” with “all our love and devotion.”
Since 1978 members of this community have said those words in many different settings but all in service of this university. What greater messege could we wish for in our lives that the call to “strive for understanding and for peace and unity.”
Let this be our messege to future generations of Panthers and those around us, not that we are in a semitropical climate zone with large financial ties to the Americas. Let our calling card be our “search for truth and wisdom,” not some advertising campaign.
In “Its youthfullness as an institution, its traditions still in the making, its willingness to adapt to the demands of the vibrant community it serves,” FIU must have ties to it origins.
The Alma Mater as it currently stands lays out a set of values from one generation to the next that we can all call our own.
Let our actions speek louder than our words, let us uphold the values set forth as it is plastered in the window as you walk into the Graham Center for all to see.
I therefor ask you to please stop this contest, for in proceeding we lose what is the real meaning of tradition, something that ties the past, present, and future together in shared values and shared voice.
FIU Alma Mater Hail! HAIL TO THEE!
-Max Mersinger, Senior, History