As you walk the streets of Iowa City this week, it’s hard to miss the billowing white bed sheets hanging from student houses, draped over porches and covered in black and gold spray paint.
Some mock Iowa State University’s student body or football team with crude jokes, while others feature humorous spray-painted drawings of the Hawkeye and Cyclone mascots going head-to-head. Each banner does its part to add to the city’s school spirit.
With the annual Cy-Hawk football game approaching, “Hate Week” has officially arrived in Iowa City. This longstanding tradition has become an exciting way for students to show off their school spirit and get ready to cheer on the Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium this Saturday.
Students often make their banners with roommates or friends, coming up with ideas for what to paint or write and figuring out how to bring those unique ideas to life.
University of Iowa fourth-year Ava Gregg and UI fourth-year Montana Bil, as roommates, have a banner adorning their house on Dubuque Street. The white sheet hangs from their second-floor window, covering most of the front porch.
Scrawled on the bed sheet in black spray paint, the message reads “ALL CYCLONES ARE UIOWA REJECTS #staymad.” Bil said the idea for the banner came from something she had recently seen online.
“I saw a TikTok of Dave Portnoy at Iowa State, and he was asking [students] questions like, ‘Are Iowa State students just rejects?’” Bil said.
For Bil, the best banners are the ones mentioning something personalized against Iowa State, rather than just putting a random insult on a sheet.
“What makes a good banner is targeting their weaknesses, like something they’re known for,” Bil said. “[Ava and I] saw the TikTok and thought it would be good since it’s referencing a joke that already exists.”
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The banners also give UI students a chance to see how their ideas compare to other students’ artistic creativity around the city. As more banners appear on houses and apartment balconies throughout the week, Gregg said she enjoys walking around and seeing what other students have created.
“It’s really fun — me and my roommates went on a walk yesterday evening to see [the banners],” Gregg said. “If you look out our front window you can already see two, plus our neighbors have one, and it’s still early in the week.”
Their neighbors’ banner reads “Time to take out the trash!” above a spray-painted depiction of the Cyclone mascot in a trash bag. These banners hanging side-by-side show how neighbors have different takes on what makes an effective banner.
Isabel Iannacchino, a third-year UI student living in a house on campus, also joined in on the tradition this year with help from her roommates. Their banner takes a dig at Iowa State, specifically their secondary mascot, Cy the Cardinal: “I hate that little ginger b—-” is written in huge black lettering across their sheet.
“We got it from TikTok when the whole Halley Kate thing was happening,” Iannacchino said. “We all made it together and just spray-painted it.”
The phrase came from a trending TikTok sound associated with online conflict between influencers Kennedy Eurich and Halley Kate. Iannacchino and her roommates took the trend from social media and turned it into their own Hate Week banner, displaying how students can use popular online jokes and trends as inspiration for the Iowa City custom.
“I think the banner tradition is really fun, and it makes me happy to go to a place with school spirit like this,” Iannacchino said.
While the jokes and messages vary from house to house, the banners show how students are using simple and inexpensive materials like bed sheets and spray paint to create their own artwork for Hate Week.
As more banners go up around Iowa City leading up to the big game, this tradition continues to give students a creative way to showcase creativity, celebrate their school, and add to the energy surrounding the Cy-Hawk rivalry.
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