Homecoming Tradition: Floats

[From College Days, 5. Nov. 1929]

TRACY CAPTURES THE FLOAT AWARD

’29 HOMECOMING FLOATS SHOW IMPROVEMENT OVER PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS

The annual Homecoming parade featured by numerous floats of every sort, traveled up and down Watson st. [sic] to a successful close. Led by the Boy Scouts and the local high school band, the parade took on a stirring aspect.

Floats of every description were present. The prize winning floats were submitted by Tracy and Duffie, who took first and second prizes, respectively.

Tracy’s was a burial ground mounted on a truck, which was followed by six men carrying a casket. It bore the inscription, “in memory of Carroll.” Duffie offered a mounted zeppelin which was accompanied by the words, “Take Carroll for a ride.”

Merriman and Lyle were represented by huge telephones and accompanying signs reading, “Calling Carroll’s bluff.” Bartlett’s “Carroll wedded to de-feet,” was portrayed by a bride and groom. The bride represented Carroll, and the groom whose feet were gigantic, represented defeat. Sanford presented an operating room with Carroll on the operating table. Gore reigned supreme. The inscription was, “Will Carroll pull through?” Parkhurst portrayed “Ripon on Top,” by a huge football mounted on a car. Several girls carrying smaller footballs walking beside and in back of the car. Woodside’s contribution was a gigantic nut cracker bearing the words, “Crack the Carroll jinx.” Smith offered a large reproduction of the little schoolhouse where the Republican party was born. On the roof of the building were the words, “The hunting ground of the Redmen.”

This year’s homecoming float and vehicle decorating contest will take place on Saturday, October 3^rd at 11AM in the quads. Stop by to see the floats and stick around to see Ripon take on Carroll at 1PM at Ingalls Field. (Ripon beat Carroll in 1929, 20-6. Go Redhawks!)

Final summer project from Morgan Douvris

After conducting research into the documented and undocumented sentiments towards racial issues on campus, I have learned many things about what molds and shapes our individual experiences. It has given further evidence to the fact that everyone is different no matter what category you would like to put them in. We cannot assume that every Black person at Ripon has negative or positive experiences because many factors like background, appearance, level of involvement, and attitude can contribute to opposite experiences. Race relations have always been and always will be an issue not just on the Ripon Campus, but everywhere. But as long as education remains a goal for everyone, we can begin to bridge the gap.
--Morgan Douvris

[This summer Morgan Douvris interviewed several recent alumni regarding their experiences as African American students at Ripon College. Both the interviews and her paper can be found in the Ripon College Archives.]

Freshmen Hazing of the 1940s-1960s

What ARE these five students from the class of 1946 doing on the ground, exactly? Praying? Kissing the earth? Awkwardly hiding from the camera? Actually, they are taking part in the Freshmen Hazing experience! The hazing of freshmen by the sophomore class was a time-honored tradition on the Ripon College campus from the 1940s until the late 1960s. Freshmen had to adhere to a variety of rules, which included a 10:30 p.m. curfew, being present at all football games and pre-game pep rallies, wearing “regulation beanies” at all times outside of their dormitories, and, most importantly, “buttoning” to upperclassmen, as seen in this photo. This hazing lasted until students went home for Thanksgiving break; that is, unless the freshmen class won the coveted grease-pole fight during homecoming (though, unfortunately, this rarely happened).

--Jacqie Fingerson

First African American Students at Ripon College

[Picture from Ripon Magazine, Issue 33, Year 2000]

This picture is of the first known African American students to attend ripon. From left: Bill Stewart, Robert Walker, and Del Cornick. They graduated in 1952 and started what would become Ripon's journey through the struggle for diversity and understanding on a predominantly white campus. Each student had their own experience in a time that was much different from our own, where laws were not stringent enough to prevent overt racism. These days, the "Political Correction" movement and education have paved the way for tolerence, but how do the experiences of the past compare to recent Ripon graduate experiences with racism and prejudice?

--Morgan Douvris

Summer Archives Students Projects

This summer, Jacqie Fingerson and Morgan Douvris have been working on research projects in the archives. Morgan has been investigating the history of African Americans at Ripon and the experiences they had here; Jacqie has been looking at the history of Greek life. The next few blog entries are from Jacqie and Morgan on their projects.

-AP

John Updike, HD Ripon, 1965

(John Updike, ca. 1965)

(1965 Ripon College Commencement Program)

In 1965 one of the preeminent American writers of the twentieth century walked across the stage to receive an honorary doctoral degree from Ripon College. On that day John Updike shared the stage with several other literary luminaries. The press release announcing the event had the following to say: “RIPON, WIS.—The honorary degree recipients at the 99th commencement exercises at Ripon College on Saturday, June 5 will include playwright William Inge, novelist John Updike, poet William Stafford and theologian Nathan A. Scott, Jr., in keeping with the theme of “Literature.” … Updike is the author of Rabbit, Run, [sic. Rabbit, Run] The Centaur, Telephone Poles, The Coupled Hen, and others. In 1960, he received the Rosenthal award from the National Institute of Arts and Letters.”

Yesterday, January 27, 2009, John Updike passed on after a bout with lung cancer.

Robert Page Sims

With Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday and the inauguration of Barack Obama on Tuesday, many Americans are taking the time to look back at the Civil Rights movement of the the 1960s and earlier. One of the first steps at Ripon College in support of Civil Rights was taken in 1924, when Robert Page Sims, an African-American student from Bluefield, West Virginia, was admitted.

Noted alumnus Pearl Dopp, '25 writes about taking Robert to the "Walk-Around" (a dance/social for first year students). She wrote in a letter to her mother on September 27, 1924 [Available at: http://www.ripon.edu/library/archives/exhibits/dopp1924.htm ] that, "I saw him on the campus and realizing that he would undoubtedly not get a chance to go to the walk around, I conceived the idea of asking him." The Walk-Around was covered in the College Days on September 30th, 1924, but there is no mention of Sims or Dopp. (The article is transcribed below.)


[Friday, September 30, 1924]

Why Walk-Around?
--Or—
The Mysteries of a Blind Date

By Catherine Whittier

“Get me a date!”
“Can she dance?”
“Is he good-looking?”
The time—first week of college.
The place—the campus, the commons and Ingram Hall
The characters—all the college boys and girls…U, rah, rah!
The subject—the Walk-around.

The answers were in the affirmative. The dates were secured. Some were blind ones, others were unsconscious, some were merely dumb. The senior took the beautiful little blond and found that she “juth lovths college life, becauth it wath tho thrilling.” The stately brunette turned out to be a frost and the coy little Titian-haired date was the original “Enfant Terrible.” The long-suffering junior co-ed was left aghast at the animated bit of encyclopedia that trailed her to the “Walk-Away.” He talked vociferously of the political trend of parties and the logical choice for president. She groaned inwardly, fearing he’d choke on some of the five syllable words he tossed carefully about. He didn’t, though! (He was the H.S. orator in His Town—at least he called it “my town”—and she didn’t doubt his veracity!)
Grind Begins on Time
The various dates assembled in the gym and the Walk-Around began. The dates shook hands enthusiastically with the benign professors at the head of the line, but the near finish the dates’ parched tongues hung out and they extended limp hands. Nothing hearty about their handclasp. Well, that was over.
The hardened seniors sat in the balconies and gazed on in grim humor. Circles were formed of the freshmen girls encircled by upper-class escorts. The escorts moved about and curiously examined the license plate on the lil’ Frosh gals. As one little Frosh remarked, “Felt just like a horse being looked over by a prospective buyer. Nearly showed my teeth!”
The upper-class girls were doing likewise to wearers of the green headgear. After the drummer had dropped his prized Ingersol—Ford case—several times, the Walk-around was over and the walk over began.
Walk-Over a success
They reversed and trod on the left foot of their partners each time around the floor. They slipped and they galloped! There were sad awakenings and some were put solidly to sleep. The little freckled girl danced divinely while the striking Anglo-Saxon moved like a great lakes dredge.
The dancing ceased. Ice cream cones were distributed. It was a circus plus! The annual walk-around, 1924, for the freshmen was over and they dispersed. Sweet dreams of rosy conquests embellished many tired sleepers’ craniums.

"...then college life dons its winter clothes."

"When Lane Library stands frozen on the snowy campus, and a fireplug tempts no dog to leave his cozy home, then college life dons its winter clothes." --Crimson 1948

Ripon College students will don their winter clothes when they arrive back on campus this weekend and early next week. Classes begin Tuesday, January 20th.