Earlham College - Sargasso Yearbook (Richmond, IN)

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.. . nrfffi- bfi -,,:Qf' IN THE BEGINNING Some were already awake and had been so most of the night thanks to the impossibility of sleeping on the jeff. Some of them had just gotten up and were now eating breakfast or loading the car in preparation for the trip. And, of course, there were those in Richmond still asleep and planning to drop over to the campus sometime in the afternoon. On this morning in mid September, however, they all had one thing in common: they were all about to become freshmen at Earlham. For the high school sen- iors this seemed to be tossing away all the re- spect and dignity of an exalted position and beginning at the bottom. Earlham was prepared for this reaction with her best foot forward. The best foot, figuratively speaking, was the freshman week staff. This joint staff of faculty and students was charged with orientating the freshmen during Freshman Week. They were in evidence everywhere. A long registration table was manned by upper- tlassmen with tooth-paste-ad smiles and gestapo- like arm bands. Members of the transportation committee met all in-coming' trains, planes, cars, buses and dog sleds. To break the neophytes in slowly to the humors of college life, Dick Lern- er personally met the jeff. It was a busy week. The now green-tinged newcomers dined, danced, sung all old songs and some new. They were tested in every area Page 11

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Page 12 except Tibetan culture and an exhaustive cover- ing of that field is contemplated soon. They were subjected to speeches covering every sub- ject from Earlham's ideals to Earlham's health service, with little distinction between the two. The week ended with registration for classes and the Freshman Program, which was notable for the two extremes in music it produced: Etta Marie Wilson's rendition of Suzanne is a Funny Old ManM!??ffxx! thpt!!, etc., and Nancy Feller's torchy delivery of It Had to be You , which raised the temperature of Goddard 300 After plunging into the academic schedule, and after the shock of seeing what the upper classmen looked like, the freshmen soon found themselves surrounded by men with paddles and whistles and were told that precedents were un- derway. The stunts ranged from the ridiculous to the absurd. They included for the men: shoe polishing, skirt-wearing and air raid signaling. And for the girls, such doozies as upside-down skirts and spoon-feeding of male unfortunates.