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March 28, 2006
Students find 151 years not worth celebrating
The rhetOracle is a mock issue of Hamline's undergraduate newspaper, the Oracle. We are trying to be as derisive as possible. Please enjoy the farcical nature of this issue or at least, ignore us.
Most Hamline students and faculty are familiar with the phrase, “Celebrating 151 years of excellence,” due to its visibility earlier in the year on signs, posters, and university mail. Short and simple, this motto seems to be the type that would catch on. At the very least, it wasn’t expected to cause any unrest. However, recent discussion around campus has confirmed that there is a startling consensus within the student body: 151 years, they say, just isn’t really worth celebrating.
Why the lack of school spirit? For some, it’s because they feel as though they’re being ‘tricked’ into feeling proud of the endurance of their school. Sophomore Jeanne Gisutto, president of student organization Hamline University Motto and Mantra Alliance (HUMMA) stated that she thought the creator of the slogan may have been going for an ‘over 150 years’ slant.
“It’s a common practice to work that angle. Even so, when it’s just one year over a landmark, it just ends up sounding too contrived,” she said in an interview last Friday.
Gisutto says that Hamline has a long history of favoring certain years of excellence over others. For example, a drop in school support dropped suddenly in 1958 when the mascot of the “Pipers” was renamed the “Noble Freedom Defenders” at the request of Senator Joseph McCarthy, who thought that the original name was too ‘collective sounding.’
In contrast, the “Pipers” were reintroduced in the mid-1960s, when hippy culture gave new support to the old name. University administration members were pleased with the renewed spirit they saw at Piper sporting events, where students seemed to be more involved with team spirit than ever beforečmany could be heard saying, “pass it!” when their home team was in possession of the ball.
Aside from logos and names, the number of the anniversary itself often plays a part in attitudes about the commemoration. Students state that they favor number that are more exciting, and that if a number doesn’t jump out at them enough it doesn’t really trigger a feeling of wonder.
“I mean, 151 is a prime number, so I guess that’s sort of cool,” senior Kyle Brandt stated. “It’s not like last year, though, when we celebrated 150 years of excellence. That was a number with bang. Something to be proud of, you know?”
So what’s in store for the future of Hamline spirit?
“We’ll start to see more interest in reunions like this come the 155th year,” Gisutto predicts. “Just hang in there for a few more years and the support will come back in full force.”
Posted by dwright at March 28, 2006 01:06 PM
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