EARTH backstory: Our ‘Hijos de la tierra’ anthem

Costa Rican musician Carlos Guzmán recalls the year was 1990 when leaders of EARTH University contacted him with a request: composing an anthem that the entire community could learn and sing, one that honored our purpose and values. Although Guzmán had never stepped foot on the forested campus, he was a friend of José Zaglul, EARTH’s founding President, and strongly believed in the fight to protect nature and nurture peace. His strong identification with our mission inspired him to write the heartfelt lyrics and music for a song that has since been chanted by 27 student cohorts, as well as countless faculty and staff.

Portrait of Carlos Guzmán.

“I proposed a song dedicated to the land – the materia prima of the University – because EARTH sought to work with it and for it,” Guzmán says. “[Officials] found the whole concept beautiful and aligned with the Institution, so I began drafting what later became the anthem – one of my most important compositions.”

As Guzmán began, he pondered melodies, wanting to craft one that sounded warm and inviting – rather than aggressive or militaristic, as was traditional for anthems. Born amid the convulsions of endless wars, brutal dictatorships, and chaotic extraction that rattled Latin America, EARTH was built to be a promoter of peace and sustainable development within the region. By extension, Guzmán’s poetic lyrics were meant to serve as a shared promise to our Mother Earth and each other.

Alumni singing the anthem.

Guzmán turned our mission into song. 30 years have passed, thousands of people have learned the lyrics and, in the process, fostered an even greater sense of connection to our work. Our anthem plays in the background of an endless number of happy memories and continues to reaffirm what we strive for: to positively transform the world by caring for the planet and the people on it.

Let us never forget that:

We invite you to listen to our hymn: