Worcester Polytechnic Institute - Peddler Yearbook (Worcester, MA)

Page 14 text:

On September 22, 1947, 203 of us gathered in Alden for our aca¬ demic overture; we knew nothing, we hoped for much. On Com¬ mencement Day, 122 of the origi¬ nal group, representing 60.1% of the class, will receive their diplo¬ mas. It is interesting to conjecture what has become of the other 81. Chronologically our class history would read something like this: The Class of 1951 won the Goat’s Head twice and never lost a Rope Full or Paddle Rush. In our fresh¬ man year, our football team, sparked by youngsters Stan Miller and Andy Freeland, shut out the Class of ’50, i2-o. The following year we were not so fortunate; ’52 shaded us 13-12. Our record in soccer is 0-1-1; our first year we were blanked 2-0 by the experi¬ enced Sophs, our second we were held to a 2-2 deadlock in a game which extended into two overtimes and near darkness. Outstanding for the ’51 hooters were Bob Ful¬ mer, Sam Winther, and Ken Mayo. Tom Hodgett coached the team in the second year. Despite the fact that ’51 has more than its share of characters and beer-hall Barrymores, we were never solid hox-office when it came to Tech Carnivals. Our two pro¬ ductions, Hellzapoppin’ written by Bob Wolff and Owen Ott, and Pall Bearers, They Satisfy scripted by Bob Allen and Bill Baker, nevertheless were outstanding dra¬ matic efforts. Andy Freeland was the recipient of the Skull Freshman Award, pre¬ sented annually by the senior soci¬ ety to the outstanding member of the new class. Rick Ferrari was runner-up for the trophy. Certainly one of the outstanding class achievements was our con¬ sistently fine showing in the Inter- Class Basketball competition. De¬ feated in the finals the first year, the courtiers of ’51 swept through to the championship in the next three years. Prominent in a tri¬ umphant cause were Richie How¬ ard, Andy Freeland, Don and Walt Kolodne, John George, Jack Dil¬ lon, Pete Groop, and Halsey Griswold. I11 our freshman year, 120 of our number were pledged and initiated into the nine national fraternities represented on campus. The Class of 1951 has heen char¬ acterized by strong and active leadership and exceptionally close class spirit through its years at the Institute. Our first leader was Jim Macy, who as Class Chairman be¬ gan our organization and com¬ pleted the writing and acceptance of our constitution. Our first com¬ plete slate of officers was headed by Andy Freeland as President, assisted by Richie Howard, Vice- President; Andy Andersen, Secre¬ tary; Frank MacPherson, Treas¬ urer; and Gerry Atkinson, His¬ torian. Our Tech Council dele¬ gates have been Pete Groop and Carl Johannson. An old and respected Tech tra¬ dition was reborn when ’51 re¬ instated the Freshman Hazing pro¬ gram. Previous classes had taken a single look at the size and pug¬ nacity of the incoming men and had decided to forego any hazing tactics. A hazing committee, head¬ ed by Phil O’Connor, drew up a code of behaviour, containing, among others, the stipulations that the Freshmen should wear beanies and bow ties, carry Tech Bibles at all times, and know quite thor-