After 181 years of operation in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, Iowa Weslyan University closed its doors in the Spring of 2023 due to financial challenges. The college has had a long history of music that dates back to the earliest days of the institution. Lowell J. Anderson, class of 1908, was the organizer and leader of the Wesleyan Band. During this time, he wrote the lyrics to the Iowa Wesleyan Alma Mater set to the tune of O' Tannenbaum. Since that time, the alma mater was sung at all significant university events.

 

Living next to the former campus, as well as being a graduate, I can look out my studio window and see the dome of Old Main everyday. My thoughts go to all the people who have been influenced over the years by the education received in the shadow of its patient, lasting presence. Many of the teachers in Southeast Iowa are proud graduates. I dedicate this work to all of the alumni and faculty whose lives were forever changed by their time spent on its campus.

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On a personal note, thank you, Burt, Ruth, Carl and Joel for the difference you made in the life of our family and all the lives you touched with your gift of music. We are forever grateful.

Loud a song of praise sincere, Wesleyan, we love thee.