letter that "Illinois Loyalty" was never officially recognized by the university, but rather "For Good Old Illinois" by Vernon Thompson Stevens was recognized in 1916. President Henry believed that legislation of the issue could only occur when all interested groups have engaged in widespread discussion and come to an agreement. In February 1959, he asked the Alumni Board of the Alumni Association and the university's Student Senate to begin the discussion. By March, President Henry announced that the university would not be making any decisions regarding official school songs. "Illinois Loyalty" and "Hail to the Orange" would remain in competition with "For Good Old Illinois" for the title of "official alma mater song". Lyrics The song's words as listed in the 1906 program are shown below. The original publication includes optional replacements for sections of the lyrics, such as replacing "Victory" with "Touchdown", or "crack out that ball" with "smash that blockade"; however, they are not shown here. Media The Marching Illini plays "Illinois Loyalty" at the beginning, middle (after field goals), and end of football games, as well as other games the band attends. The music is included in the "Illini Fantasy", a medley of Illinois songs and marches arranged for concert band by James Curnow in 1970 as a commission from Director of Bands Harry Begian. The University Summer Band plays "Illinois Loyalty" at the close of its Twilight Concerts on the Quadrangle in June and July. The song is frequently performed during chime concerts on the Altgeld Chimes. "Illinois Loyalty" is used as the school song of several schools within Illinois and several other (primarily Midwestern) states. See also List of University of Illinois songs References Statement of historical continuity in usage of the song by the University External links Guild's personal scrapbook held at the University of Illinois Archives Original notated music score from the Library of Congress American college songs College fight songs in the United States Big Ten Conference fight songs University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign