10 Iconic Tower Lightings

Standing tall at the heart of the Forty Acres, the Tower has long been a symbol of campus pride, resilience and achievement. But the 307-foot monument of stone and steel is more than an architectural icon - it's the beating pulse of the Longhorn community. Through a carefully choreographed dance of lights and color, it celebrates academic and athletic victories, commemorates University milestones, and marks solemn remembrances. Whether it's awash in burnt orange after a football win or crowned with fireworks during commencement, the Tower's glow speaks a language understood by generations of Longhorns.

At the end of UT's 142nd birthday week, here are 10 of the Tower's most iconic lightings.

1. First Tower Lighting

Oct. 19, 1937

The Tower is officially illuminated for the first time. The lights followed an ombre effect, moving from bright orange at the base of the clock to white at its peak. The Daily Texan described the sight as "majestic splendor" while the Austin American-Stateman reported that the display could be seen from as far as Round Rock, Manor and San Marcos.

2. Tower Windows Spell "UT"

Nov. 22, 1962

The Tower's windows are used to spell out "UT" for the first time. Set against an all-orange Tower, the display celebrated the Longhorn football team's first perfect season in over 40 years, which culminated in a Thanksgiving Day defeat of Texas A&M.

3. Fireworks for Commencement

May 1995

At President Robert Berdahl's direction, spring commencement was redesigned to include fireworks and a display of the graduation year in the Tower windows. The change helped turn graduation into a popular event. Within a few years, spring commencement was attracting overflow crowds of more than 20,000.

Since recently moving to DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, it now draws more than 50,000.

4. Heisman Celebration

Dec. 12, 1998

The Tower displays Ricky Williams' jersey number, 34, in honor of the running back winning the Heisman Trophy. He became UT's second Heisman winner, following Earl Campbell in 1977. Williams left UT as the NCAA's all-time leading rusher.

5. Hook 'em Horns!

Nov. 11, 2005

The Tower displays a "50" in celebration of a half century of the Hook 'em Horns sign. Creating a number in the Tower windows involves configuring 217 window shades.

6. National College Football Championship

Jan. 5, 2006

A "1" glows from the windows of an orange-emblazoned Tower to celebrate the Longhorns' National College Football Championship. Led by quarterback Vince Young, the team's victory over USC in the 2006 Rose Bowl is still considered one of the greatest bowl games of all time. The tradition of displaying a "1" in the windows to celebrate a national athletics title dates to 1964, when the Longhorns won their first national championship.

7. Rubik's Cube-Like Projections

Aug. 2-3, 2011

The Tower serves as a canvas for video projections of Rubik's cube-like rotating blocks showing the faces of notable UT alumni including Walter Cronkite and Michael Dell. The unique display was created for UT's institutional commercial broadcast during games.

8. Celebrating 75 Years of the Tower

Feb. 27, 2012

The glowing orange Tower displays a "75" in its windows in celebration of the 75th anniversary of its construction. The occasion marked the first and (so far) only time the Tower has been lit in honor of itself.

9. Nobel Prize Recognition

Oct. 26, 2019

The Tower celebrates Professor John B. Goodenough's Nobel Prize in chemistry, displaying "LI+," the scientific symbol for lithium ion, to recognize Goodenough's work developing the lithium-ion battery. The Tower also lit up in 1977 to commemorate then-UT professor Ilya Prigogine's Nobel Prize in chemistry.

To date, eight members of the Longhorn community have received Nobel Prizes. This includes faculty members Hermann Muller (Physiology or Medicine - 1946) and Steven Weinberg (Physics - 1979), and four alumni: E. Donnall Thomas (Physiology or Medicine - 1990), J.M. Coetzee (Literature - 2003), Michael W. Young (Physiology or Medicine - 2017) and James Allison (Physiology or Medicine - 2018).

10. Gaming at the Tower

Nov. 3, 2022

The School of Design and Creative Technologies transforms the Tower's façade into an interactive video game screen through projection mapping. Rather than simply using the Tower as a screen, the game incorporated the façade's different stone structures into the game, creating the illusion that the characters were truly traversing the Tower.