Washington and Lee University - Calyx Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

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History of the Academic Graduating Class of 97 Prociil, O . ' piocul else t rojani ! HE Academic graduates have the floor, and claim full possession. With bated breath let the shiver- ing Bics. and all small fry attend while the His- toric Muse touches my lips with a live cigarette stump and infuses inspiration into my heart ' s core. In the first place, I am led to observe that in what- ever light considered the superiority of the Academ. over the Bic. is undisputed, — save by incompetent and preju- diced persons. The Bic. comes and goes like the waver- ing tide. He springs into existence like the mushroom, and as suddenly sinks into oblivion. The Academ., on the other hand, comes to stay. His growth is slow, but sure. Starting from the weakest beginning as a verdant Freshman, he broadens in stature and in mind through- out his course. Around his heart ' s affections are twined the Alma Maternal apron-strings, till, when his gradua- tion day comes he finds that his home is here, his friends are here and his treasure and his heart are here. What wonder, then, that we of ' 97 feel our bosoms swell with emotion when we realize that soon the cords must be broken, the tender ties loosed. At this closing moment of our history we are con- strained to glance back over the events of the years behind us. In rapid succession they pass before us, and, as they go, we realize that in nothing pertaining to the true and faithful performance of undergraduate duties have we been wanting. As each fall term has rolled around we have rushed the P ' reshmen for the final ball election, and many are the stern and deep arguments with which we have loaded their unsuspect- ing minds. We have regu- larly attended the opening re- ceptions of the V. M. C. A., and the Sunday meetings — occasionally. Most persist- ently have we averred that the foot-ball team would defeat our neighbors, the Cadets, and in this, our final year, we have had our prophecy fulfilled to our immeasurable surprise and delectation. In literary society matters we have shone signally as the preeminent champions of Roberts ' Rules of Order, to the successful exclusion of all debate upon the question under discussion, and have learned thereby to evade in the most artistic manner the fines attendant on neglected duty.

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Academic Class V Colors: Olive and Pink. OFICERS. H.W. Garrow, Jr., Tex., President. J. R. K. CowAX, Va, Vice-President. B. F. Harlow, Jr., V. Va., Secretar} ' and Treasurer. CANDIDATE FOR PH. D. J. D. M. Armistead, Va. Flower: The Red Rose. W. B. Morrison, Va., Historian. A.W.Webb, Md., Valedictorian. CANDIDATES FOR M.A. T. J. Farrar, Va. B. F. Harlow, Jr., W. Va. CANDIDATES FOR A. B. L. C. Barret, Mo. E. A. O ' Neal, Ala. J. R. K. Cowan, Va. M. G. Perrow, Va. W. B. Morrison, Va. A. F. Toole, Ala. A.W.Webb, Md. CANDIDATES FOR C. E. B. C. Flournov, Md. S. M. D. Harrison, Va. H. W. Garrow, Jr., Tex. T. H. Webb, Md. CANDIDATE FOR B. S. H.W. M. Drake, Miss.

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33-l t; Throughout the winter terms we have studied, when our other rather onerous duties have not intervened. But in the spring ! Our young and growing fancies have turned, not lighth ' , as saith the poet, but heav- ily, bodily, totally. to thoughts of calic. How could we help it, with the the loveliest of campuses before us, and the sweetest of maidens strolling so temptingly, so trequently, so slowly, over its beautiful sward ? Help it we could not, and so we had it incorporated into the constitution and by- laws of the class that no one should presume to apply for a degree of any character until he could show reason- able proof that he had at least once in each session been in love. This duty has been faithfully performed by each and every one of us : by some even more frequently than the law required. The great collegiate duty of the spring term, that of witnessing every game of base ball, has also been per- formed, and we have won high honors as onlookers and encouragers of the team. In the later spring we have not forgotten the Father of his Country in our rambles on moonlight nights, and many are the occasions on which we have glorified Old — 20- George with the red or blue insignia of our respective boat crews. On several occasions, which come to us now most vividly, have we seen the venerable G. W. display the national colors, the white being furnished b} such small parts of his own person as had escaped the hostile paint brush of fratricidal strife. In commencement days we have gone regularly to chapel and talked religiously throughout the exercises to our best girl, or to some other fellow ' s, as the case might be. A righteous horror has been exhibited, since our very first commencement, of hearing one word which proceeded from the rostrum, and careful attention has been given to the discourse of those who filled the pews. In all seasons we have endeavored honestly to make as much noise on the streets of Lexington as was ex- pected and desired by Sergeant Hazlewood and Mayor Houghawaut in order that some amusement might be afforded the anxious spectators who daily thronged the municipal courts of justice. The spirit of tender solici- tude for the dumb beasts of the t jwn has been carefully fostered, and in furtherance of this end more than one bovine has found a night ' s lodging far from the noisy crowd in the company of the shades of Plato and Aristotle. On Sundays we have attended service regularly,