The Homecoming Corn Monument returns to the Pentacrest.

By Ali Krogman
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University of Iowa engineering students were all ears on Monday working together to erect the Corn Monument on the Pentacrest.Twenty-one hundred ears, that is.

This year’s Corn Monument, a resurrected tradition on campus, stands 24-feet high. The UI student chapter of the American Society of Civil Engineers spent time over the summer and the past three weekends designing and building the monument.

The structure is made of only wood and corn. Matt Schleusner, a senior civil engineering student and head of the Corn Monument project, said he felt relieved the monument is finally up for campus to see.

“It’s a weight lifted off my shoulders,” Schleusner said. “It’s a really cool feeling to walk by it and say that I was a part of that.”

The Corn Monument tradition began in 1919 but vanished by the 1980s and wasn’t built again until last year’s Homecoming.

“Last year was the revival,” Schleusner said. “This year is the return.”

Michelle Riedinger, a senior civil engineering student and the president of American Society of Civil Engineers, said the monument started as a engineering-school collaboration and grew from there.

“It’s something unique about the university,” Riedinger said. “We wanted to pick up where it left off.”

From the outside, the Corn Monument might seem like a fun Homecoming tradition, but for the students, the experience building it is worth more than its week of fame on campus.

Bill Eichinger, one of the advisers for American Society of Civil Engineers, said the monument is a good tradition, and gives engineering students real-life experience not found in the classroom.

“It’s a real construction project,” Eichinger said. “There are odd problems, and they have to solve them.”

Riedinger said the team didn’t have as many problems as last year, and learned from their past building mistakes.

“Last year, we realized the monument wasn’t straight,” Riedinger said. “We were more careful this year and took that into account.”

She noted the project experienced minor hiccups, which is expected in any construction project.

“We also bought way too much corn,” Riedinger said. “But no major issues.”

The two seniors hope the tradition continues even after they’re gone.

“The sad part is there are a lot of seniors in our group,” Schleusner said. “We tried to get a younger group of students involved to keep it going.”

Riedinger said students in Eichinger’s class next year would design the monument so the group will have numerous designs to vote on.

“We’re also going to try and get more groups involved next year,” Riedinger said. “We want this to be bigger than just civil engineering.”

The American Society of Civil Engineers collaborates with the UI Campus Activities Board to help advertise and promote the Corn Monument. The student organization used UI IIHR–Hydroscience & Engineering unit’s shops to construct the project.

It’ll be interesting to see how it progresses,” Riedinger said. “Hopefully, it continues for years to come.”