ISU students and alumni will have a chance to prove Iowa State’s dominance this fall by saving more lives than the competition.

The ISU Alumni Association has challenged Drake University, the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa to see who will have the most alumni and students come forward and donate blood in a two-month span.

Students are defined as those who have taken more than 12 credit hours with the university, so most current freshmen will meet the specifications after finals, said Allison Hay, public relations specialist for the Blood Center of Iowa.

The Blood Center of Iowa will be collecting the donations.

Donors will be given a card to fill out to declare which team they’re giving blood for, and the university with the highest percentage of participants will get a plaque.

“We’ll get a general number from each of the alumni associations of how many members they have in their association,” Hay said.

This information will be used to determine the percentage of donors that contribute.

In Ames, eligible donors can give at Mary Greeley Donor Center, 1111 Duff Ave. This gives the Cyclones a small advantage over the Hawkeyes and Panthers, as the Blood Center of Iowa does not have donation centers in Iowa City or Cedar Falls.

Hay said so far she did not have numbers on which university was winning, but said participation had been high and many Des Moines businesses were advertising it as a chance to “Beat Iowa” or “Beat Iowa State.”

Each donation can save the lives of up to three hospital patients, Hay said.

“We appreciate any help they can give us,” she said. “It’s really going to save lives.”