While the fundamental control of the student body rests, as it always
has, with the Faculty, the students have almost always shown themselves
ready and able to deal with questions of a certain type more promptly
and effectively than the Faculty. This is evident by the good record of
the Student Council since its organization in 1905. The members of this
body are elected during the last half of their Junior or the beginning
of their Senior year, and are usually the strongest men in their
classes, though not necessarily the most popular or the best students.
Most of the Council's work has had to do with student customs, the
regulation of old, and the establishment of new, "traditions," a
paradoxical procedure perhaps, but a source of much that is picturesque.
Of these traditions, none has been more acceptable than the custom of
requiring freshmen to wear the little gray caps, or knitted toques in
the winter, with a button at the top, signifying by its color the
College or School of the wearer. No more inspiring or beautiful ceremony
occurs in university life than the annual "cap-night" celebration when
the student body meets in "Sleepy Hollow" near the Observatory, about a
great bonfire, to watch the burning of the caps, and the formal
initiation of the freshmen into the responsibilities of college life.
The dance of the freshmen about the fire and the showers of caps falling
into the flames (they have been sent to the Belgians the last few
years), combined with the vigor and idealism of the speeches which
follow, all conspire to produce one of the most stirring and impressive
events of the year.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account