This Week in NMH History 2016-2017 #03
90 Years Ago
When was the first Rope Pull,
anyway? That’s a question your editor often gets at this time of year.
Inter-class and inter-dormitory competitions involving a “tug o’ war” were
certainly part of campus life in the 19th century and D.L. Moody
himself is reputed to have taken part in these contests. It was not until the
spring of 1925 that the event resolved itself into an annual contest between
the junior and senior classes, and in the fall of 1926, Shadow Lake became the
venue of choice. This is the 90th anniversary of the event at Shadow
Lake: the 91st edition happens on the 18th,
from The Hermonite, vol.
XL, no. 4; p. 1 (October 23, 1926).
Much Junior-Senior Rivalry
_____
The Rope Pull
It seems as though the Juniors are
racking their brains to think of all kinds of schemes to put some class spirit
on the Hill. The recent rope-pull across Shadow Lake is only one of the various
means they have taken to obtain their end. And in the rope-pull they did attain
their end, for they dragged the Seniors through the mud in grand style, showing
that they had something besides wind. The Seniors response to the rope-pull
challenge seemed to hearten the Juniors, but the fact that the south goal posts
are still red and blue makes the Juniors feel that it takes more than a mud
bath to wake up the Seniors. What’s next?
Who
will win this year? Go to watch or pull on Sunday and find out. A few
statistics:
Since the event was moved
to Shadow Lake, the Juniors have only won 14 of 90 rope pulls.
Since the seniors asserted
their right to the advantageous east bank, the juniors have won a mere 9 of 83
contests.
In all these years, only eight
classes have not tasted the waters of the lake and emerged as double victors, including
your editor’s great class of 1978. –ed.
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