"Dear Old Nebraska U" (often referred to as "There Is No Place Like Nebraska") is a

fight song A fight song is a rousing short song associated with a sports team. The term is most common in the United States and Canada. In Australia, Mexico, and New Zealand, these songs are called the team anthem, team song, or games song. First associated ...

of the

University of Nebraska–Lincoln The University of Nebraska–Lincoln (Nebraska, NU, or UNL) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Lincoln, Nebraska, United States. Chartered in 1869 by the Nebraska Legislature as part of the M ...

written and composed by Harry Pecha in 1923. It is frequently featured at university events and is played by the Cornhusker Marching Band following Nebraska touchdowns, typically after " Hail Varsity."

History

Dear Old Nebraska U was composed and written by student Harry Pecha while attending an

Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps The Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (AROTC) is the United States Army component of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. It is the largest Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program which is a group of college and university-based officer tr ...

camp at

Fort Snelling Fort Snelling is a former military fortification and National Historic Landmark in the U.S. state of Minnesota on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The military site was initially named Fort Saint An ...

in 1923. Nebraska attributes the song to Pecha, but other schools use similar tunes, often with similar lyrics. It was originally written in

time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

, but was soon adapted to to better suit it for marching. Dear Old Nebraska U was used as the school's primary fight song until Hail Varsity was composed and written in 1936. ''

The Daily Nebraskan ''The Daily Nebraskan'', established in 1871 as the ''Monthly Hesperian Student'', is the student newspaper of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Although many journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the i ...

'' suggested the university had "long lacked a song able to express Cornhusker determination and victory spirit" and strongly encouraged students to learn the lyrics to Hail Varsity, which was adopted by the Innocents Society as the school's official fight song in 1937. Dear Old Nebraska U was later officially adopted as well. The song is often referred to by its opening line, "There is No Place Like Nebraska." The university recognizes three other fight songs in addition to Dear Old Nebraska U and Hail Varsity: "March of the Cornhuskers," "The Cornhuskers (Come a Runnin' Boys)," and " Mr. Touchdown, U.S.A." A fourth, "Band Song," is typically played as a lead-in to Hail Varsity.

Lyrics

It is unclear why the University of Nebraska became "NU" (or "Nebraska U") instead of "UN." The school was referred to as NU long before Dear Old Nebraska U was written, and while several schools of the former

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...

also use this nomenclature (

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

as CU,

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

as KU, and

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

as OU), each began at different times and with no clear connection.

Other uses

Lincoln-based Zipline Brewing Company sells "Dear Old Nebraska Brew," an

American lager The American lager or North American lager is a style of pale lager produced in the United States and Canada. Pale lagers originated in Europe in the mid-19th century and were brought to North America by German American, German immigrants. While ...

brewed in collaboration with the Nebraska Alumni Association, with a portion of sales going to alumni programs.

References

{{authority control University of Nebraska–Lincoln Big Ten Conference fight songs Music of Nebraska