Once you’ve entered the north doors of the Memorial Union and walked around the Zodiac, you come to the Gold Star Hall, which is lined with the names of fallen ISU students.

The Gold Star Hall was originally built as a memorial to the ISU students who died during World War I after the editor of the newspaper led a group of students in rallying for a living memorial. Thus the Memorial Union Corporation was established in 1922 as a not-for-profit organization. By 1925, there were enough pledges to finance the memorial.

The groundbreaking for the memorial was April 26, 1927, and the Gold Star Hall opened in September 1928.

The names inscribed on the walls are of the fallen soldiers of Iowa State from World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Somalia and Iraq and Afghanistan. The inscriptions have been updated in 1928, 1984, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Other inscriptions found in the north entrance of the Memorial Union include one above the Zodiac and another above the north door in the Gold Star Hall.

The inscription over the Zodiac refers to those who fell during World War I and reads:

A memorial to the six thousand

Iowa State College men and women

Who offered their lives

During the World War in the cause of

Human liberty and free government

The inscription over the north door reads:

For Thee they died

Master and Maker, God of Right

The Soldier dead are at Thy gate

Who kept the spears of honor bright

And Freedom’s house inviolate

Another memorial found in the Memorial Union is the stained glass windows in the Gold Star Hall that were designed by Harold W. Cummings of the class of 1918. A committee for the concept was established on March 9, 1942.

The glass in the windows is colored rather than having a colored enamel. Each window has a different meaning regarding learning, virility, courage, patriotism, justice, faith, determination, love, obedience, loyalty, integrity and tolerance. Their full meanings can be found at www.mu.iastate.edu.