On, Wisconsin! I'm a Rambling Wreck from Georgia Tech. The Minnesota Rouser. The Maine Stein Song. College songs are a warm and colorful landmark on the American cultural scene, and Lawrence -- where music and music education are particularly prominent features of institutional life -- has at least its fair share of school songs and related traditions.
The Lawrence Alma Mater ("Hail to Our Alma Mater") was presented to the college by Dean William E. Harper of the Conservatory of Music in 1908-09. The Alma Mater of Milwaukee-Downer College was introduced by its Class of 1908.
"Go, Lawrence, Go" was written in 1940 by renowned band leader Fred Waring. The custom it describes -- sending a burning raft down the Fox River -- was an annual Homecoming highlight until the mid-1950s.
"In the Quest for Understanding" was commissioned for the celebration of Lawrence's 150th anniversary in 1997. The text was written by the Rev. Carl P. Daw of the School of Theology at Boston University; the music is based on the traditional melody, "Thaxted," popularized in this century by Gustav Holst's orchestral suite, The Planets.