College of William and Mary - Colonial Echo Yearbook (Williamsburg, VA)

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sent letters through the campus mail encouraging student participation in the games, but con- demning the obscene cheers which had become popular. One of the year ' s most memorable events, the Tucker Death threat startled an exam-ridden campus in mid-December. A threatening mes- sage scrawled on a wall in Tucker prompted a wave of anxiety which was characterized by twenty-four hour card-key and extensive patrol- ling by the campus police. A sense of security was lost, at least temporarily, when quiet Williams- burg discovered that it was not necessarily safe to be out alone at night. In January, Williamsburg ' s usually temperate climate dumped around eight inches of snow on us. On the blustery day following the snow, the wind chill factor plunged well below zero. Icy roads and sharp winds made travelling and going to class miserable. Said senior Liz Besio, I was up early that morning. I listened to the radio. U of R was closed. Hampton Institute was closed. ODU— closed. And then the deejay said that he guessed William and Mary was still open. Then three of my professors didn ' t show up. I guess only the students have to show up on blizzard days. In many ways, 1984-85 was a memorable year filled with controversy, change , and growth. A major controversy surrounded the imminent All ptiotQS. Mike NIkolich 16

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- t . ' , ' im - -r M ■ - n , ' 1 - t ip IS iaK,- -J ' a ' Ji -al OsyiaDss %; fe . ' Out atter one of the frequent Idil siiovvecb tins year, vmanda Wilson and Kris Rombaugh waited for nings to dry out before going running. change in the Virginia drinking age. In the spring, the General Assembly approved a gradual eleva- tion of the drinking age over the next three years. Although actual changes did not affect this year ' s student body. Associated Dean of Students Ken Smith cited the need for student attitude changes toward alcohol and social activities. Smith stated, [Although] the level of drinking is dovi ' n. . .we have to re-educate people. In other words, this was the last year that we could drink without guilt. On a more superficial level, subtle changes in the nature of the student body became in- creasingly apparent to those of us who had been here for four years. Although William and Mary was still a fairly homogeneous campus, the acceleration of minority recruitment, the rise of anti-fashion, and the mushrooming of campus bands changed the appearance and, perhaps, challenged the underlying traditions of the place. The pressures to grow and to enhance the College ' s reputation as a university definitely shook the College ' s values. The direction the College will take for the next decade was begin- ning to be chartered this year. The College of William and Mary was becoming William and Mary University. With the warm days of spnng came the constant pleas of students to have classes outside: every now and then a professor agreed 17