Representing the past, the book is the seal element that denotes the past and the accumulated wisdom of the centuries passed to the present generation through their reading.
The book's contents is the product of the Great Seal writing contest, held last spring after President Hodge invited students to mark the opening of the Armstrong Student Center by helping to "literally write the book" inside the seal.
Within the seal, the book is open to a page featuring the grand prize winning essay, "We On a Path to Wisdom," written by Amanda Hancock, a double-major in Journalism and Professional Writing. Her essay, in which she strives to capture the collective campus experience, was chosen from dozens of entries submitted.
Hancock said she's thrilled that her words will soon become part of Miami's story: We burn the midnight oil ... a few times. We sing the fight song at the top of our lungs. We discover, we search, we learn. We immerse ourselves in an ongoing pursuit of the best version of ourselves.
"I feel so honored that my writing will be seen in such a unique way," said Hancock, a junior from Lexington, Kentucky.
In addition to other winning essays, the book contains 12 pen-and-ink sketches of Miami landmarks rendered by sisters Madelyn and Sophia Delgado, now seniors in architecture and interior design from Lebanon, Ohio.
Even the paper for the book's pages was produced on campus—by students in the Department of Chemical, Paper, and Biomedical Engineering.