University of Chicago - Cap and Gown Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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?58 cap 6' gown I958 cap 6- gown I958 published by students of the University of Chicago 5.51 kw

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w I IN L i 2;; U N .III F. Imbedded in the corridor just outside Oxford-like Hutchinson Commons is a brazen replica of the University seal. Like similar artifacts, this object is popularly invested with a mystical power: the unwary student who steps on it will fail all his exams. Every college and university in America has similar cuse toms and traditions, and participation in them is often equated with uschool spirit? a sense of unity in and identih ficatjon With the institution. The belief that spirit and unity are good things has led to public approval of fresh- man beanies, panty raids, tugs-of-war, honoraria, cheering sections, and a host of similar usages. Such spirit, some have said1 is notably absent at the Uni- versity of Chicago. UC students walk wherever they hape pen to be goingeon the Hutchinson seal or oEewith equal nonchalance and no observable ill effects. The cur- rent custom seems to be not so much to Haunt tradition as to ignore it. This neglect of customary custom, it is further claimed, causes a iack of unity in the student body-a lack which has often been discussed, debated, and deplored. Cries of TTapathy are raised from time to time, rallies are organized sporadically, but for the most part Chicagds students go about their business and display a profound disinterest in mass action of any kind. Everyone has his own pet explanation for this state of student affairs; events, people, and policies are aiternately praised and blamed; but we believe that the history and the quality of student life are, to a great extent, reflections of the character of the University itself. First and Foremost, a university