As student regents finish their terms on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, it is tradition for the board president to ask the student regents to sing their school fight song.
Generally, none of the student regents oblige, always finding an excuse for not wanting to embarrass themselves by singing in public.
The excuses came to an end this year when UNMC’s student regent, Nick Behrendt, was asked to sing his school fight song at the Nov. 11 Board of Regents meeting.
Of course, UNMC is the only campus in the University of Nebraska system without an athletic program and thus no fight song. Still, Behrendt, a fourth-year medical student, was undeterred.
“I had witnessed four outgoing student regent speeches in my tenure, and each one had ended with an excuse for why they would not be singing their school fight song,” Behrendt said. “It would have been easy for me to use the excuse that UNMC doesn’t have a fight song, but I thought it would be more fun if I came up with my own fight song.”
Behrendt crafted his own lyrics and proceeded to sing the song to the tune of “There is No Place Like Nebraska,” the recognizable fight song of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Here are the lyrics to Behrendt’s UNMC fight song:
There is no place like the Med Center,
Dear old UNMC.
Where the research has more funding,
And the students do more studying,
Than any old place that I’ve seen.
There is no place like the Med Center,
For patient care it’s the place to be.
We’ll all build together a new research tower
At dear old UNMC.
Behrendt received a standing ovation.
It was the culmination of what Behrendt terms “a life-changing experience” serving as UNMC’s student regent.
“More often than not, students have no idea what it takes to run the university they attend, and even fewer students have an idea of what it takes to run an entire university system,” he said. “Over this past year, I have not only gained valuable lessons that have developed my own leadership skills and character, I also have gained a great sense of pride for the University of Nebraska. I truly hope that I will someday be able to return to the university as a leader and further help achieve our goal of becoming an educational leader in the world.”
A native of Omaha, Behrendt is the son of Bill and Jeanette Behrendt. His wife, Rebecca, is currently doing her student teaching in the seventh grade at Russell Middle School in the Millard Public Schools. Behrendt graduated from Elkhorn Mount Michael High School in 1998 and earned his undergraduate degree from Saint Louis University in 2002. He will graduate from medical school next spring and plans to do his residency in obstetrics/gynecology.
He concluded his speech by urging the board of regents and each of the four campuses “to continue to strive for greatness.” He told the regents to “continue to set your goals higher and higher and never settle for second best…and continue to listen to your four student regents, since they are representatives for the very students whose education is affected by your decisions.”
Dan Connealy of Chadron, a third-year medical student, will serve as the 2006 UNMC Student Senate president and student regent. Michael Furasek of Lincoln, also a third-year medical student, will serve as vice president. The pair will take office in January.