When it comes to having a chance to beat the University of Iowa at something, UNL students aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves.
This week, it’s the “Corn Bowl Blood Drive Challenge,” a blood drive competition between UNL and Iowa. The two-day drive continues, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 21 in the conference room of the Harper Dining Center.
Organized by UNL’s Innocents Society and the University of Iowa’s President’s Leadership Society, the blood drive gives the first 150 students who donate blood a free T-shirt. All students who donate on Nov. 21 receive free food from LaMar’s Donuts and Subway.
“I think it’s going pretty well so far,” said Colby Argo, keeper of traditions for the Innocents Society. “We’re facing a bit of a challenge because of the homecoming blood drive and you can’t really double-dip.”
Students who gave blood during UNL’s homecoming week must wait at least eight weeks between donations of whole blood and 16 weeks between double red cell donations.
UNL has won the blood drive the past two years, winning by more than 80 pints of blood in 2012.
The competition is tied to the annual Corn Bowl exchange between the student bodies of UNL and the University of Iowa. The contest is facilitated by the two campus honoraries.
The Corn Bowl trophy is exchanged at the annual Nebraska-Iowa football game and the society from the winning school displays the trophy until the next game. In addition, the winning school’s name is engraved on the trophy underneath the score of the football game. The winner of the blood drive also gets to put its state’s corn in the bowl, Argo said.
“Nebraska corn has been in the bowl since its founding in 2011,” he said.
Iowa collected 211 pints of blood earlier this fall, Argo said. Last year, UNL collected 143 pints to win the contest.
Argo said the goal this year is 212 pints.
“I hope students come out to give back to the community and to show Iowa that we have a lot more spirit than they do,” Argo said.
