Swarthmore College - Halcyon Yearbook (Swarthmore, PA)

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GET TOGETHER Every train filled to the aisles, cars coniing and going . . . Magill a steady stream of prodigal sons and daughters drag- ging over-stufted suitcases up the long trek and about to die of the heat in new fall clothes with the thermometer wavering between 85 and 90 . . . Parrish, Wharton, Worth agog with, How ' s the boy? ' ' Darling, how wonderful to see you! Nice summer? Great to be back! Halls filled with trunks, buildings and grounds filled with people. In short, that fateful Tuesday had arrived and with it the Great Awakening; for the College in awakening from the sum- mer solitude of quiet buildings and deserted lawns; for the freshmen an awakening to the hard, cold fact that all is not as it seemed during those past five halcyon days in what had the appearance of being the Ideal-Week-End ' Resort on the Banks of the Beautiful Crum; for the upper- classmen an awakening to the responsibilities that a new year and a new position on the ladder had placed on their shoulders. Freshmen go about a little bewildered by the excitement of it all and a little disconcerted to find that all sopho- mores, juniors, and seniors do not fall under one of three headings, namely. Smiling Mortar Board, Helpful Book and Key, and Interested Athletes. And the most un- kindest cut of all, they find that everyone doesn ' t eat every meal at mixed tables nor dance every night in Collection. Their eyes are opened. The upperclassmen, the impression gained by the frosh notwithstanding, are a little bewildered and disconcerted, too. The gentle proddings of time have become increas- ingly more persistent. Where have the years gone? Is it possible that we are sophomores . . . juniors . . . seniors . . . already? Gradually, however, that newness of it all wears off. The new groove is formed quickly, imperceptibly. The only big change, really, is that last year ' s seniors have gone and this year ' s freshmen have come. But adjustments are made easily and life goes on much as before.

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Top. MALIN Center. PHILIPS Bottom. DRESDEN Top, SILZ Center, GODDARD Bottom. MacLEOD FACULTY 16

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i ♦ 1 it ' 1 if., nj ta. Cl li ■ y- .i - ' ? I ft .JkIHi ■ |:;f ' :i - ' -AoSiT- ® i J ' sr j X CLASS OF ' 42 The class of ' 42 entered Swarthmore on a bright clear day, from all parts of the country. They were welcomed by President Adylotte, acting Dean of Women Phillips, and acting Dean of Men Hunt, and for the duration of Freshman Week they owned the college. Then with the return of the upperclassmen, they were relegated to their proper place, donned freshmen caps and signs, and be- came a class as yet little known and untested. The class was first labeled as class with spirit when one morning the numerals ' 42 appeared large, white, and distinct on the water tower. Tradition had been car- ried through in grand style, although $17.50 was later paid the College for removing the white paint. Their spirit then showed itself in less expensive ways and most effectively in their exhibition at the half time of the first football game. By this time the sophomore girls had inflicted on the freshman girls a week of bright colored hairnets to be worn tied under the chin and with all hair tucked under — a privilege of infliction permitted their superior status. The excitement caused by this arose to such heights that finally it was suggested that the Frosh challenge the sophomore girls to a tug-of-war — the result to determine whether the hairnets should be taken off two days early or worn two days longer. The challenge was accepted, and after ten minutes of valiant struggle in which finally even the boys helped, the bright colored hairnets were untied and torn off. The annuHl male Frosh-Soph tug-of-war across Crum took place not much later on a cold and drizzling Novem- ber Sunday. Who can say now who would have won, which class would h ave proved superior, or what would have happened — if the rope had not broken? But the rope broke and the freshman boys plunged into Crum after the Sophs and into a free-for-all. It was a weary, wet, and muddy group of boys that straggled back to Wharton and a not so weary, but wet bunch of loyal girls ihat returned to Parrish. There remained one traditi(jn as yet unfulfilled, so after 18