But not that one. 'Tis the season for politics with the Iowa Caucus right around the corner. In February of 1968, Gov. George Romney, father of current GOP Presidential nominee contender Mitt Romney, visited Ripon College while campaigning for the GOP nomination. He eventually lost to Richard Nixon, but was later named by Nixon the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The primary in Wisconsin is scheduled for April 3rd, 2012--though there are no plans (yet) for Mitt Romney to make any appearances in Ripon.
The Ripon College Theatre department is presenting The Tempest starting tomorrow evening and running through Saturday. For more information, check: here. The above images are from Journey's End, put on by the Mask & Wig theater club at Ripon, eighty years ago in 1931. For more images from Ripon's past, check out the digital collections made available through Wisconsin Heritage Online. You can find Ripon College's collections: here.
Congratulations to the Ripon College Cycling team for their third consecutive Midwest Collegiate Conference Cycling Division II championship! Several of the members will compete this week at Nationals in Angel Fire, New Mexico. Best of luck to all. Go Hawks! Pictured above: Ripon College Cycling club ca. 1901
In October of 1961, construction was begun on Pickard Commons behind Lane Library on Elm Street. Harwood Memorial Union served as the dining hall before the Commons was built and before that, students lined up outside of West Hall for their meals until 1942. Fifty years later Pickard Commons now also houses the Student Activities offices, a Starbucks as well as the newly named David and Lynne Joyce Student Lounge. Many thanks to Mary Brandt for her gift of the above photographs to the Ripon College Archives.
The Ripon College FM radio station, WRPN, just celebrated its 49th anniversary last week on February 15th.The school had previously had an AM station which began broadcasting on September 25th, 1957 and experienced a number of technical problems.These were sorted out over the next few months and the college began broadcasting regularly a few months later on December 2nd.The campaign to acquire FM equipment and establish the FM station was led by William Jochimsen, Class of 1961.
Some of the programs during that initial year may have looked like the following:
Sunday schedule:
12:00-2:00 Noon Musicale w/ Paul Apman
2:00-5:00 A Sunday Afternoon w/ Dick Johnston
5:00-6:00 Off the air
6:00-7:00 Spin Cushion w/ Darryl Johnson and Dick Brian
For those of you in Ripon or have been in town during the past few months, you may have seen the new ice skating rink adjacent to downtown and the campus. The rink is located on land owned by the college and is managed by community volunteers including Howard and Bear Hansen (no relation to the Speech professor), Brandon Haas and Craig Tebon. The photo above shows that ice skating is nothing new to campus as two students ca. 1940s skate to class. If you can identify these students, please email me at prellwitza@ripon.edu
Pictured above is Prof. Howard Hansen, '37 (far left) leading a Speech class outside of Lane Library. Prof. Hansen taught from 1955-1964 at Ripon College and established the major in Speech, which is now the Communication Department. Ripon has a lengthy tradition of being strong in speech, forensics and debate. During his tenure, Prof. Hansen continued that tradition while serving as coach of the debate team and developed several outstanding teams. At the time of his death in 1964, he was President of the Wisconsin Speech Association.
Ripon College's commitment to excellence in Speech continues n February 9th, when Ripon will be host the 2010 Forum on Ethics and Oratory with keynote speaker Kathryn Olson presenting on Al Gore's documentary, An Inconvenient Truth.
Before Barnes & Noble, before Amazon.com...there was the bookstore. Students shop for books at the beginning of the semester sometime during the late 1960s or 1970s.
Many of the faculty are back on campus putting the finishing touches on their syllabi. Students will arrive this weekend. Monday afternoon students will finish registration in the Storzer Athletic Center. Pictured above is registration during the 1970s in the Old Gym, which was located just south of the Commons.
During the 1940s Ripon had both a men's and women's rifle team. The caption from the 1942 Crimson states: "Because the Ripon College women felt that, due to the war situation, Red Cross work should come first, it was necessary to shift and shorten the women's rifle season. Of the four week period, two weeks were spent studying the parts of the gun and the way in which they should be used as well as sighting and zeroing in the rifles. This left only four practices before the record targets were fired. In spite of this and because of the expert guidance of Captain Steinman, the record firing was well done." Pictured above is Barbara Elsy.
Pictured above are members from the Ripon College Ski Club from around 1950. If you were a member of this club or you can identify any of the individuals in the picture please contact me at prellwitza@ripon.edu
’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 ona 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 byhuge 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 3rd 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!)
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.]
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).
[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?
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.
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.
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.
"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.
It is the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving break--many students are visibly excited about going home for a few days to see their families, to catch up with friends from high school and to have a few days off from papers, projects and studying. First year students (whose connection to home is stronger since they haven't even been at Ripon for an entire semester yet) may be the most thankful for Thanksgiving break. This excitement though, cannot match that of the class of 1928 when they and the rest of the country celebrated, "the three hundred and fourth commemoration of the manifestations of divine goodness experienced by the heroic founders of our glorious nation." Thanksgiving to them meant the end of a series of rituals and rules enforced upon them by the school's "soph-o-mores." Current first year students should commemorate the divine goodness of the lack of these rituals in 2008.
The text of the poster reads:
Who is the big man in the picture? He is a soph-o-more. What is a soph-o-more? A soph-o-more is one of the guardians of the [?] entrusted with the caring for the morals and the upbringing of freshmen. What is the soph-o-more in the picture doing? He is administering punishment to a naughty frosh who has disobeyed one of the commandments laid down below:
1. Commencing instantaneously and enduring up to and in- cluding the three hundred and fourth commemoration of the manifestations of divine goodness experienced by the heroic founders of our glorious nation. All members of the freshmen class shall embellish their persons as follows:
(a) Each and every female adherent of the class of '28 shall accomplish the encompassment of the left humerus with the des- ignated encirclement.
(b) Members of the sex masculine of the same class shall de- posit upon their brain pans the ordained cerebellum confines.
2. Suitable deference and humility shall be manifested to members of the faculty and upperclassmen through the medium of an industrious and sedulous rapping upon the crimson protuberance provided for in sections (a) and (b) of 1.
3. The herbaceous and verdant accretion embellishing the campus shall be sacred from the encroachments of the members of the frosh class.
4. Abstain from chasing on campus.
5. The confines of thy domicile shall undeviatingly limit thy inhalation of the vapor of the wicked weed. The sole per- missable container for the noxious vegetation shall be one man- ufactured from the chaffy axis of the fruit of the maize.
6. Venerations and respect shall be manifested at the termi- nation of each chapel excercise by the entire freshman class remaining seated until all faculty members and upper class- men shall have left the confines of the edifice.
7. Do not provoke your instructors unnecessarily by utiliz- ing the arms of the lecture room chairs to cut your teeth on.
(1965 Ripon College Commencement Program)
