THE HENDRIX COLLEGE
ROFILE VOLUME 105 ISSUE 3
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR THE HENDRIX COLLEGE
P ROFILE Editor-in-Chief: Brooke Nelson Managing Editor: Casey Hawkins Business Editor: Chirag Lala Layout Editor: Jessica Frazier-Emerson Layout Editor: Liz Green Photo Editor: Megan Prettyman Copy Editor: Sydney Meyer Photographer: Leah Headley Photographer: Aditya Katke Photographer: Konrad Witkowski Staff Writer: Marlee Bird Staff Writer: Jenson Chier Staff Writer: Peyton Coffman Staff Writer: Hunter Herrera Staff Writer: Adam Williams
HENDRIXprofile.com . Online Editor: Sarah Gilmour
Advisor Jamie Groat
MISSION STATEMENT As a student-run and student-funded newsmagazine, The Profile uncovers the smart edge to campus culture: the people, places, ideas and trends that curious, confident students and faculty want, need and ought to know. By critically examining issues important to the Hendrix community, The Profile aims to act as a catalyst for change, a tool for transparency between the student body and faculty and a source of inspiration for its readers to begin thinking globally and acting locally.
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A
s the SoCo 54 glitter begins to fade from our red brick pathways and jingle balls prepare to rain down in the library this week, I have started to step back and reflect on the traditions that have shaped my, and everyone’s, college experience at Hendrix. Traditions are a core part of our identities as Hendrix students. They are interwoven into the very lifestyle of this school; they are the stories we tell ourselves about who we are as an institution and a community. Some are time-honored classics (Shirttails), while others are still in their infancy (Village parties?), but all have come to shape our college years in some form or fashion. Every college has its traditions, but ours make us unique, and we cling tightly to them because we believe they define us. We measure the passage of time in the weeks between campuswide parties. We identify as “Martin Men” or “Brainy Raneys.” We cheer for those dorms at Shirttails—no matter where we live after freshman year. We throw people in the fountain on their birthdays. We eat chicken strips and mac & cheese in the caf every Friday. Together, these traditions embody the quirky characters of the students and our commitment to community, and over our four years on campus, we bond over these shared experiences. This bond transcends cohort years and graduation classes, too. What fascinated me, as we worked on this issue, was the network of enthusiastic alumni who reappeared to relive memories of their favorite traditions, and how those traditions have evolved in just 10, 20 or 30 years. Some traditions have persisted, like Miss Hendrix, while others no longer exist, like the names of Galloway corridors. Regardless, it was fun to compare notes with these alumni, to hear about traditions that have faded from collective memory as students have graduated and moved away, and to share the new ones that have arisen in their place. Not all of these traditions have been good, however. Looking back, we have come a long way on gender and racial issues since merging with Galloway Women’s College in 1933 and integrating in 1965. But as a dominantly white school, we still need to address diversity and sexism as a student body. And perhaps we do not take buses to warehouse parties or get arrested at Goat Roast, but some of our festivities have earned us a “party school” reputation that sometimes overshadows our rigorous academics. As I spoke with this vast network of alumni, I had one major takeaway: the spirit of Hendrix persists, even as it evolves. I take comfort in this because I know that the core essence of this school, those little quirks that drew me here in the first place, will live on long after I have moved away. But I also worry for our tiny college nestled deep in Central Arkansas, because at times we cling too tightly to our traditions and are too skeptical of change. In some ways, we should be proud of our traditions and how far they have come. In others, we still have much farther to go.
CONTENTS 4 Miller Center Meals
VOLUME 105 ISSUE 3 DECEMBER 2016
NEWS
Thursday night Fellowship, revamped
6 Out With the Old?
Status of Hendrix traditions
OPINION FEATURE
Stories from Assassins pg. 16
8 The Hendrix Party: A History
Our party scene dating back to the 1930s
10 Dorm Debauchery History of dorm traditions
12 Our “Liberal” Tradition? When did the transition begin?
14 Odysseys Gone Wrong
Projects don’t always go as planned
15 I Heart Pumpkin
CULTURE
Why do people love pumpkin so much?
16 Assassins
Dorm Debauchery pg. 10
I Heart Pumpkin pg. 15
History of the Hendrix Party pg. 8
Stories from the week-long manhunt
18 Ultimate Frisbee
SPORTS
Their ultimate traditions
COVER PHOTO: A NEWSWORTHY PRANK Two women sit in a dorm room filled with newspapers, circa 1975. Pranks like the this were a common occurrence in the dorms, where students lived for their entire four years of college. Students stacked cans outside someone’s door, put Vaseline on the toilet seats or even dumped ice on someone in the shower.
DECEMBER 2016
3
NEWS
MCM:
NO LONGER RESERVED FOR MONDAYS
O
n Thursdays around 5:15 p.m., students start arriving at Campbell dining room to play games and build community before the dinner starts. By 5:40 p.m., when the dinner begins, there are well over 100 students present. The seats are full every week, but there is always enough food to go around. Welcome to Miller Community Meals (MCM), weekly meals hosted by the Miller Center that celebrate the diversity of religions that Hendrix students practice. Although Thursday night communal meals have been a Hendrix tradition for 14 years now, they recently got a facelift when Dr. Robert Williamson, professor of religious studies, became the director of the Miller Center. The weekly Thursday night meals began in 2002, when Reverend JJ Whitney was hired. She wanted to strengthen the community at Hendrix and decided that one great way to do so would be to host a weekly dinner for like-minded students. “There’s something about sharing a meal together that [helps] you really get to know someone,” Reverend Whitney, Hendrix Chaplain, said. This program, known as Fellowship, started out in the Galloway Parlor, and then moved to a classroom in Mills as the program grew. For its last few years, Fellowship was held in Worsham and regularly had 50 or 60 attendees. Each Fellowship dinner had a theme, such as Halloween, Mardi Gras or 90s Night. Following the home-cooked meal was a group activity designed for Christian community-building. Though Reverend Whitney tried to make the dinner open to everyone, there was very little diversity at Fellowship. Andrew Fleming, who has attended both Fellowship dinners and Miller Community Meals, described a majority of Fellowship attendees as white, Christian students. The Interfaith Idea When Dr. Robert Williamson became the Director of the Miller Center this past June, he sat down with Reverend Whitney to discuss how the Miller Center and Chaplain’s Office should change to reflect the changing demographics of Hendrix itself. “The President [of the college] is talking a lot about diversity and inclusion,” Dr. Williamson said, “so we wanted to go from being a Christian community that welcomes all people to being a community where everyone is welcome on equal footing… a community of
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KATE SANDERS diverse religious, spiritual and philosophical pathways to understanding ourselves and the world.” “What that means for us is [that] we’re interested in those who are religious being in their own particular religious tradition: Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu,” Dr. Williamson said. “Our goal was to get all of those people to get together, to get in relationship with each other [and learn] how to appreciate each other, how to work together to build community, how to think together [and] how to make the world a better place.” Dr. Williamson believed that the Miller Community Meals were just a place where that could happen. “People like food. People like music. People like getting together. We were just trying to create a space where that kind of community could happen,” he said. Preparing for MCM Over the summer, Reverend Whitney invited Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Christian and nonreligious students to be on the Student Advisory Council for MCM. These campus leaders worked with Dr. Williamson and Reverend Whitney to come up with ideas for events, venues, recipes and advertisements. “I was really proud of the Miller Center,” junior Anusheh Ali, co-president of the Muslim Student Association, said. She was impressed with the thought Dr. Williamson and Reverend Whitney put into developing MCM and how readily they accepted input from students. Senior Pratheepa Ravikumar, co-president of Friends of India, was thankful for the Miller Center’s support throughout the process of hosting the Diwali dinner. “They gave it to our hands and then they helped us do everything,” Ravikumar said. Friends of India created their own program and found the recipes they wanted to showcase. The Miller Center facilitated the event and helped prepare food for the 120 expected attendees. “Just the meal, cooking the day before, was an event,” Ravikumar said. “We ended up making 13 different dishes.” For her, cooking her favorite childhood dishes alongside friends was a deeply memorable experience. Ali agreed with this sentiment. “I felt like I was with my family, and we were all helping for an event,” Ali said. Reverend Whitney, who has helped cook the Thursday night meal since
Photos by Aditya Katke
NEWS
2002, loves the process of creating a meal with people. Her favorite part is the conversations that happen in the kitchen, especially when a lot of students are around. “We love for people to just come by the kitchen, hang out,” Reverend Whitney said. “Like, maybe you don’t want to help, but you want to work on your homework in there and just kind of be in a homey atmosphere. We love that.” The cooking normally happens on Wednesday afternoons and then all day Thursday. The MCM Experience Talking to MCM facilitators, hosts and attendees made one thing very apparent: the food served here is top notch. Thanks to the diversification of people cooking through MCM, there are lots of interesting food choices for students to try. “If nothing else, you are getting good, home-cooked food that is different from what is in the caf,” junior Delaney Wells said. “You get really cool, traditional foods you never would have eaten if you hadn’t come.” “There is an energy at MCM,” Dr. Williamson said. “It’s people just chatting and making friends with people they hadn’t known before. It feels like a celebration every time.” At 6 p.m., the presentation begins. Topics range from religious traditions to modern philosophies. “They’re a lot of fun and you can learn some valuable things,” Flemming, who has listened to a majority of the speakers this year, said. Ravikumar, who presented on Diwali in October, reflected on the experience. “It was very exciting for us to share and get that support from the other side.” For Ali, MCM has been a step in the right direction. “We always talk about how Hendrix has a diversity problem, and this is how we deal with the diversity problem,” she said. “I feel that MCM has given [Hendrix] this whole new attitude about learning about other faiths.” The willingness of Hendrix students to engage in this interfaith dialogue didn’t come as a huge surprise to Dr. Williamson. “Hendrix students are just sort of wired that way: to want to learn about each other and to want to celebrate and feel like whoever they are, they can come into this place and be respected and valued and appreciated,” he said. Miller Community Meals have been extremely successful so far, and it is expected to grow even more interest. For Ali, the reason is obvious: “Eat good food, make friends, learn—what’s not to love?”
TOP: Students gather to listen to a presentation by Friends of India after the meal. Week to week, topics typically range from religious traditions to modern philosophies. BOTTOM: Food cooked by members of Friends of India is prepared to be served. Often, the cooking takes place on Wednesday afternoons and all day Thursday.
DECEMBER 2016
5
OPINION
OUT WITH THE OLD? ADAM WILLIAMS
T
YES
“
A TRADITION IS NOT MERELY SOMETHING YOU DO EVERY YEAR BECAUSE YOU DID IT IN YEARS PAST. OUR TRADITIONS NEED TO ACCOMPLISH SOMETHING FOR OUR CAMPUS.”
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raditions change. Example: Shirttails. Shirttails is regarded as one of Hendrix’s most famous campus traditions. Since 1913, after the Hendrix College Bulldogs beat the Ole Miss Rebels in a rousing game of football, Hendrix has been celebrating “Shirttails.” However, the Shirttails that took place at the beginning of this year hardly resembled the Shirttails of 1913. Dancing, Beyoncé and women: all of these elements were absent from the Shirttails that happened in its first years of existence. Hendrix has evolved Shirttails into a tradition that is more inclusive and reflective of the entirety of the student body. Traditions should not remain static. If traditions fail to adapt and change over time, then they become relics of the past rather than homages to our institutions. If Shirttails had not adapted over the years, it would not be as significant or important of an event on campus. A tradition is not merely something you do every year because you did it in years past. Our traditions need to mean something and accomplish something for our campus. That being said, there are some traditions on campus currently which need to either adapt or they too will become disappointing relics of Hendrix’s past. The first among these is the current debate around the names of parties in Martin Hall. Specifically: “CEOs and Corporate Hoes” and “Robots and Sluts.” These slurs, specifically aimed at women, are seen as offensive by a large percentage of the student body. However, there is also a portion of the student body that does not see these words in that same way. Last year, these parties were still held, just referred to with the last half of each of their names being dropped (“CEOs” and “Robots”). Yet, there still remains some friction within the student body. Some stick by the original title of the party, while others boycott the parties all together because of their demeaning titles. Another debate that has sparked controversy is the usage of a Catholic nun to represent Raney Hall residents. Depicting a nun in this way undermines the values and beliefs of Catholic students at Hendrix, and while being disrespectful, the term is also not empowering. The term imposes a certain sexual standard upon Raney residents that, especially during Shirttails, does not facilitate a spirit conducive to achieving dorm unity. It can be difficult to part with traditions or see traditions that we are fond of change significantly. However, when a “tradition” becomes toxic for the institution it is associated with, it becomes very apparent that change needs to occur. Our traditions are meant to serve as ways to bring a community together and create a common identity among people. In this case, our traditions are meant to unify the student body and add to the greater identity that is Hendrix College. If our traditions fail to do this, or if our traditions serve to disrupt and divide the student body—by either making them feel lesser, or by making them feel unappreciated—then our traditions need to change. Sometimes our traditions simply need adaptation. Other times, our traditions need to be tossed into the ash heap of history. Either way, we should be constantly evaluating our traditions. This debate means more than trying to be “politically correct.” This debate means evaluating what we want Hendrix to stand for and how we want it to be represented, both in the here and now and for future students.
SHOULD WE LAY THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL HENDRIX TRADITIONS TO REST? OUR WRITERS WEIGH IN.
PEYTON COFFMAN
H
NO “HENDRIX STUDENTS HAVE THE POWER TO REDEFINE THE MEANING OF A TRADITION WHILE STILL MAINTAINING IT... ‘THIS IS OUR PARTY, AND WE DO IT HOW WE WANT TO.’
“
endrix is changing. Some of its traditions are dying; some of them are already dead. Maybe those traditions are weak genetic traits that get lost in our school’s evolution, or maybe they will be replaced by traditions that make Hendrix a smarter, more welcoming environment. Or maybe the traditions don’t need to change—only the way we think about them does. One of our most criticized events is Martin Hall’s infamous “Robots and Sluts” costume party. Its adversaries argue that “slut” is a historically gendered term and that the name of the party demeans women’s sexuality. But, as all of us that have gone to Bots know, the young men in attendance are garbed in costumes that are as revealing and provocative as women’s costumes. Duct tape over nipples, bottoms made entirely of aluminum foil, glittery short shorts—these are all things worn by guys. Hendrix has a history of proud sexual liberation, and it cherishes its wild and sometimes controversial social scene. This is best exemplified by Shirttails, a party in which girls wear the shortest shorts possible and dance in front of a crowd that madly yells “sex eyes!” at them. Is anyone complaining about that? No, because the student body understands that it is a beloved tradition, a celebration of youthful sexuality and it is optional. Is Bots really that different? It seems, in 2016, as if “sluts” refers not to girls, but to everyone in attendance, and that the party’s proud, unabashed display of sexuality is a mockery of slut shaming. Admittedly, this is probably not the intended meaning of the party’s name. Originally, “sluts” probably did refer to women derogatorily, but that doesn’t mean it still has to. Hendrix students have the power to redefine the meaning of a tradition while still maintaining it. If the student body is sensitive enough to recognize the danger of the party’s title, then it is also sensitive enough to continue throwing the party (sluts and all) with less sexist, more modern social ideals in mind. This past August, many former Raney girls were disappointed to find a Shirttails tradition dead: the dorm’s inhabitants no longer officially declare themselves as the ‘Raney Nuns.’ They are no longer allowed to press their hands together over their head and shake them in an expression of dorm pride. Anyone who has ever witnessed Shirttails hopefully understands how this action can be offensive to Catholic people. The complicated question is this: does Hendrix, as a Methodist-affiliated college, have a responsibility to respect the Catholic Church, which is a historically oppressive institution? Making fun of Catholicism would be uncouth under any circumstances if Catholics in America were an oppressed group. But they’re not. The ‘Raney Nuns’ label seems to be punching up at an institution, not down at disenfranchised people. And if we can’t punch up, what can we punch at? Jokes are off-limits when they further demean and marginalize an already demeaned and marginalized group. Catholic people are not that group. Perhaps religion is sacred, and it shouldn’t be touched in the wild and thoughtless realm of college dance competitions. But perhaps religion is exactly what should be called into question during the first weekend of college. Perhaps it’s indicative of, for freshmen, the four years to come. Perhaps it’s Hendrix’s way of saying, “This is our party, and we do it how we want to.”
DECEMBER 2016
7
FEATURE
Photos courtesy of Hendrix College archives
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FROM ROMANTIC DANCES TO WAREHOUSE RAVES...
THIS IS THE EVOLUTION OF THE HENDRIX PARTY. PEYTON COFFMAN
A
fter World War I, repelled by the level of social misconduct at dances, Hendrix faculty installed a rule prohibiting students from participating in all social events. By 1931, bored students were petitioning for the allowance of on-campus dances, arguing that social life at Hendrix was abysmal. In 1935, after four years of student unrest, the Board of Trustees created a committee to write a plan that allowed for school dances. The next year, Hendrix held its first “well-regulated, high-class student dance,” and thus the Hendrix party was born. Social life on campus received a boost from the establishment of four fraternities and three sororities in the mid-1930s. Over their lifetime at Hendrix, the Greeks brought wiener roasts, banquets, hayrides and dances to the student body. But in 1945, students voted to disband the sororities and fraternities, and by the 1950s, social life on campus was lagging once again. On the weekends, students left campus to attend events at other schools with more vibrant party atmospheres. By the 1960s, Hendrix students were restless again. Drug use, especially marijuana, increased drastically. In the early 1970s, students began pushing for a freedom instrumental in the creation of a party: the right for students to visit dorms of the opposite sex. After years of negotiating, they once again got what they wanted. The Hendrix administration was presented with another problem in 1974: Goat Roast, the predecessor of Martin Hall’s Halloween party called Ghost Roast, in which Hendrix students would sneak off to a secret location to roast goats and drink beer. There was also the issue of streaking. In March of 1974, a group of male students stripped down in the girls’ dorm circle gazebo and ran naked across campus. This prank was repeated several times in front of a crowd, and eventually, two girls joined in. Hendrix was revolutionizing.
A male student spins a female student (Peggy Young) at a dance in Hulen Hall, 1972. Hulen held the Burrow and dining hall until the new Student Life and Technology Center opened in 2010.
In 1977, the Hendrix faculty began pondering the possibility of loosening the rules regarding alcohol on campus. At the time, possession of alcohol by any student was prohibited. In 1983, faculty revised the rule to prohibit the display or consumption of alcohol in public areas on campus. The fun part? Dorms were not considered public areas. In the 1980s, Hendrix boys had already been participating in an early version of Shirttails for decades. But in 1984, the women created their own version, Long Shirts/Short Shorts, and a new tradition was born. Shirttails evolved over the years, becoming increasingly raunchier and lewder. Eventually, a few rules had to be established: no sexual maneuvers with another individual, no removal of clothing and no inappropriate physical contact. The 1980s also introduced a whole new kind of celebration: the warehouse party. Hendrix administration didn’t officially allow alcohol on campus, but it did allow students to drink to their hearts’ desires in an empty warehouse off-campus. It even provided a shuttle to and from the party. Goat Roast found a new home at the warehouse, as did Hardin’s Gar Roast. Sadly, the warehouse era came to an end when the Conway Police Department, which had been turning a blind eye to the festivities, came under new leadership. Thus, the party moved back on campus. Hendrix’s official attitude toward drinking loosened further, eventually leading to the ‘cup policy’ that the student body currently knows and loves. New traditions emerged. Goat Roast was renamed Ghost Roast, Faux Rush week was born, Foam Party was invented and SoCo 54 and Toga became some of the biggest parties of the year. So the next time someone vomits in the Brick Pit, Hendrix can thank the persistent students of the 1930s who wanted nothing but a romantic soiree for evening entertainment. DECEMBER 2016
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FEATURE
DORM DEBAUCHERY A PEEK INSIDE CORRIDORS, CANDLELIGHTS AND LEGACIES OF OUR RESIDENCE HALLS
MARLEE BIRD
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very dorm at Hendrix comes with some sort of label and tradition, and most students assume the dorms have always been this way. Yet, who would have thought that many years ago, Galloway and Martin were actually brother and sister dorms, and that Galloway girls were the queens of pranks? Cathy Flanagin, class of 1980, recalled some of these pranks, such as “stacking cans outside someone’s door or putting Vaseline on the toilet seat.” Pranks sometimes included dumping ice on someone in the shower, too. In the 1960s, Galloway was the dorm allotted to new freshmen and sophomores, whereas the newly constructed Raney was designated for juniors and seniors. Even though Galloway was the dorm for underclassmen, it looked and acted more like a sorority. There were corridors associated with each wing of Galloway by the names of Red Flannels, Slums, Petticoat, Penthouse and Red Silk Stockings. Each corridor was made up of about 20 people, a corridor captain and their own specific apparel, like a corridor-appointed sweatshirt. “Big sisters” helped incoming freshmen in their new college experience and through the grueling six-week orientation experience, in which students took weekly tests and were required to wear beanies while on campus. Martha Crofoot Bumpers, who graduated in 1973, also talked about the freshman tradition of “Freshman Follies,” a talent show of sorts (and a time for the females to shine, as they were not allowed to participate in Shirttails). Reminiscent of the sorority system, yet also telling of the times, boys were never allowed in the dorms except during ‘open houses,’ which would happen about as often as a full moon. Despite the restrictions, a ‘no boys allowed’ concept was not without its benefits. “You know, my friends and I have talked about how that was kind of nice because it was a safe haven,” Maribeth Garrison, class of 1964, said. Both Garrison and Bumpers agreed that there was something enjoyable about being able to “run around in your gown or whatever you wanted with your hair in rollers.” Yet boys were still accessible through the beauty that was the ‘dink’ system. Since there was only one telephone per dorm, a ‘dink’ system allowed for each girl to know whether or not the call was for her. “Three ‘dinks’ meant I had a local call, four ‘dinks’ meant I had a long-dis-
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tance call or I had a caller in the parlor,” Garrison said. To make the whole system more uncomfortable, the Dorm Mother was always there to facilitate this interaction. Quite possibly, that caller could morph into an engagement, prompting a Candlelight Ceremony. “Suddenly signs would appear announcing the day and time for a candlelight,” Flanagin said. “Everyone sat in a circle in the dark and passed around a candle. The person who blew it out had just gotten engaged.” Bumpers recalled one experience, stating “I didn’t even know it was my close friend, Debbie’s, Candlelight.”
NO BOYS ALLOWED?: A male student stands in a crowded hallway of Galloway women, circa 1956. Men were only allowed in the dorms during “open houses,” which happened very rarely.
Bumpers also recited part of the Candlelight hymn, “Tell Me Why the Stars do Shine,” while reminiscing upon this famous tradition. The 1980s came with their own new traditions. Wayne Clark, class of 1984, noted that the infamous “Goat Roast” was alive and well during his time. “All I remember was plates of food with meat, and it was nasty,” Clark said. Toga Party was just as much of a hit back then, but it looked very different. “We made togas and would wear them to classes… but I think you all have nicer togas now.” And of course, viewing the classic 1978 movie “Animal House” went hand-in-hand with the party. “That’s a very sad tradition that ‘Animal House’ is no longer watched,” Clark said. Conrad and Laura Odom, who both lived in Couch during the 1980s, memorialized the great community of the dorm whose dysfunctional state facilitated resident bonding. “Before the dorm renovation, there was a different feel to the place,” Conrad said. “It was smaller, had no air conditioning and the heating pipes banged so loud [that] it took several weeks to get used to being able to sleep with the noise. The dilapidated state sort of caused us to bond together. We were not ashamed of the place, but enjoyed its character.” The Couch TV room was a popular spot to watch “The Cosby Show” or see the Space Shuttle Challenger take off, the Odoms recalled. There was also the Bourbon Street Party, a campus-wide party that resembled a Mardi Gras of sorts. After the dorm was expanded, including a new courtyard out back, Couch began hosting a party in the spring as well. Anna and Grant Morshedi, members of the class of 2005 and 2004, respectively, met each other at a Martin Hall party. “Sometimes you can find true love on top of a coffee table,” Grant said. “One of the best (and sometimes worst if you actually needed to study) things about living in Martin Hall was that any night could spontaneously morph into a party.” Anna, on the other hand, remembers her days in what was dubbed “the nunnery” of Raney Hall. “My parents were excited about that. We did have lots of studious girls living there,” Anna said. Dorm traditions at Hendrix continue to grow and change, some of them staying true to the past and some only abiding by the laws of the future. As time moves on, residents can be sure that no antiquated House Mothers will reappear, nor a resurrected rule inhibiting boys or girls from entering the opposite-gendered dorm, yet what new traditions will come next, no one can be quite sure.
Photos courtesy of Hendrix College archives
TOP: Male students pretend to be car salesmen outside of Hardin Hall, April 1974. Back then, it was not uncommon to walk into the Hardin lobby and spot a car parked there, a favorite prank among the residents. BOTTOM: Four female students with their House Mother (seated), Frances Nixon, circa 1965. Although Goast Roast would not come to be until several decades later, students still enjoyed decorating their dorm lobbies for Halloween.
DORM SWEET DORM In the photo on the left, Pat Collier, a member of sophomore council in Galloway Hall, hosts a tea party in Galloway Parlor in 1973. “Whenever we had a dorm council or all-dorm meeting, it helped if you served cookies or something. Pretty much, people showed up for food,” Cathy Flanagin, class of 1980, said. At the time, Galloway’s corridors each had a name; Red Flannels and Silk Stockings were both upstairs, and Petticoat and Penthouse were downstairs. About 20 people lived in each corridor, and they took great pride in their respective namesakes, making dorm t-shirts labeled “Red Flannels” or “Petticoat” in honor of their resident corridor. Because the dorms were locked after certain hours, a corridor captain gave out demerits if someone came in late. “We had a corner room, so it was not unusual for someone to yell at us or throw rocks at our room because they had forgotten their key,” Flanagin said. Some things never change.
DECEMBER 2016
11
FEATURE
ADAM WILLIAMS
OUR “LIBERAL” TRADITION? LIBERAL ARTS HAS NOT ALWAYS ENCOURAGED LIBERALISM AT HENDRIX
L
ooking closely at the painting, you see a child distraught and panicked. Her parents seem just as dismayed. You wonder what could have possibly caused such trauma for this family. “Arrival at Camp Jerome,” a painting by artist Henry Sugimoto, depicts a Japanese internment camp in Jerome, Arkansas. It hangs in Mills Center, where hundreds of students and faculty pass by it every day, little knowing its fame nor its meaning. But for many, the painting represents both dimensions of Hendrix’s past: one tied to its home state’s racism and another willing to embrace the progressive societal norms of the modern day.
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RACE AT HENDRIX: A Hendrix history professor raises the Confederate flag with the help of male students, circa 1940. The college was not integrated until 1965, over 10 years after Brown v. Board of Education.
Photos courtesy of Hendrix College archives
During World War II, Arkansas had two different internment camps, a painful reminder of the indignities that Japanese-Americans faced during this time. Sugimoto spent time in Arkansas at the internment camp depicted in the painting. After his release, Hendrix College invited Sugimoto to exhibit his art and then kept this particular piece of work, “Arrival at Camp Jerome,” to hang in Mills Center. On his first visit to Hendrix College, President Bill Tsutsui was struck by the piece of art, emphasizing that it “says something about this community that at that point, Hendrix College would have this shown, and that it would be accepted on this campus.” In 1944, Hendrix College was already standing out for its commitment against injustice and its devotion to inclusion. It is instances like these that promote the idea of Hendrix having a liberal tradition. However, this liberal tendency is not viewed positively by everyone. Within Arkansas especially, Hendrix is seen as “that liberal school” and viewed suspiciously by some. Some Arkansas residents may even be hesitant to allow their children to attend a college which they believe will influence them politically in that nature. But when did Hendrix start being viewed as a liberal school, and where does this tradition stem from? According to Reverend Wayne Clark, the Associate Vice President for Development, this tradition dates back as early as the 1920s under President John Hugh Reynolds. President Reynolds is often credited as “liberalizing” Hendrix College. During his presidency, Hendrix was still regarded as a small, rural, Protestant institution. “Hendrix is one of the most powerful conservative forces in our civilization in Arkansas,” President Reynolds said at the time. Over time, however, small changes pushed Hendrix away from its conservative roots and towards a more inclusive, liberal identity. The most significant of these changes was around the debate regarding evolution. President Reynolds would eventually become a proponent of evolutionary thought, a move that gained Hendrix some notability as a college that respected higher thinking. This decision would have an important implication for the college because at the time, “the Rockefeller Institute was looking to highlight a school in each state that they were going to give money to, and
LEFT: As the First Lady of Arkansas, Hillary Clinton received an honorary master’s of law degree from Hendrix College in 1992. Graduation took place in the Brick Pit at that time.
Hendrix was the one they felt was being the most progressive,” Reverend Clark said. That donation was used to build a new science building on campus, one that was appropriately named Reynolds Hall. Hendrix College was the first institution in Arkansas to teach evolutionary theory, and the fact that it was a private religious school leading the way is even more impressive. Unfortunately, however, Hendrix has not always been on the cutting edge of important social progress. Hendrix College did not fully integrate classes for African-Americans until 1965. This was late, even for Arkansas standards, but it was the Methodist Church and in particular three clergy members who advocated for this change of policy. The inclusion of AfricanAmerican students allowed Hendrix to liberalize even more, as a diverse campus allowed for a variety of perspectives and ideas on campus. Hendrix’s relationship with the Methodist Church is one that has always affected its tradition of liberalism, though that relationship has changed over time. Hendrix was originally founded as a Methodist connection to the South, and its first presidents were all Methodist clergy members. Students were required to attend chapel, and a strict dress code was enforced. While originally very closely tied to the church, Hendrix has since formed a much looser affiliation and has removed any requirements for students regarding religious practices, although Methodist clergy still sit on the Board of Trustees. This liberal tradition places Hendrix College in a special position in Arkansas. Professor Jay Barth believes that it allows Hendrix to reach out to more students around the country. “Many students who come here have felt like outsiders in the more conservative places where they grew up,” Barth said. “Those students come here and are able to enjoy a more progressive environment.” President Tsutsui also believes that the liberal arts experience has encouraged a free-thinking attitude that, at times, lends itself to a liberal worldview. “Students come to college to explore and think for themselves and discover where they want to go in life,” President Tsutsui said. Our commitment to civil and open discussion “is something that we should encourage and be proud of.” DECEMBER 2016
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FEATURE
ODYSSEYS GONE WRONG WHEN ACADEMIC TRADITION DOESN’T GO AS PLANNED, IT HELPS TO LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE
HUNTER HERRERA
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ear after year, overdressed, prospective students sit in rows of chairs in Worsham during their official campus visit of Hendrix College and listen to someone from Admissions talk about the Odyssey Program. These students hear about all the out-ofthis-world projects that students have done. Studying hooliganism at the FIFA World Cup? Crazy. Hiking the Appalachian Trail? That’s a credit, and the school paid for it?! As those prospective students turn into current students, they hear about how infallible and wonderful the Odyssey Program was, is and will be for the rest of eternity. Granted, the Odyssey Program usually is pretty beneficial. But, what happens when it’s not? What happens when an Odyssey Project doesn’t go as planned? Junior Adam Turner experienced an Odyssey project that did not go as he expected. “My original project was working with a group of other musicians in a brass ensemble set up for the school,” he said. “There were 10 brass players, including myself, who were playing in a brass ensemble, working towards going to a clinic in Greece over winter break. This clinic had some of the best brass musicians in the world as clinicians and judges, and we were going as a group from Hendrix to perform for them and get to work with these incredible musicians to improve ourselves.” The group’s original project sounds a lot like something one might hear at one of the Odyssey Project presentations for prospective students. Turner and his peers seemed to expect that it would be worthy of that type of praise, as well. “I expected to be working really hard everyday learning this music so that we could go perform for these great musicians that I have listened to for years,” Turner said. Unfortunately, Turner and his fellow musicians were unable to go because of funding issues. However, they still were able to complete a project, even if it wasn’t according to their original plan. “The experience was actually a lot of fun, even though we were working quite a bit more than I had been for regular band,” said Turner. “It was interesting, because it put RIGHT: Hendrix students garden during a mission trip in Miami, Fla. While there, students spoke with nonprofit organizations and learned about sustainable living, poverty and immigration. LEFT: Sophomore Allison Monroe poses with a community member in Little Haiti, located in Miami, Fla. Barry University’s service organization allowed the students to hear stories of Haitian immigrants first-hand.
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THE HENDRIX COLLEGE PROFILE
us into a different type of ensemble that most of us did not have much experience playing in. Playing in an ensemble like that is definitely very different from playing in a regular ensemble; it’s a lot more about the interactions between the individual players because we don’t always have a conductor, so it’s up to us as a group to keep time and the feel of the piece flowing.” Sophomore Allison Monroe had a similar experience with her Odyssey project. “We had intended to go to Haiti and rebuild homes there, spending some time volunteering in a hospital,” Monroe said. “We were going to work with Hendrix alumnus Dr. Omar Shed, class of 1993, and his organization, Promise for Haiti. The college was forced to decide that it was too unsafe for us to travel to Haiti during this time due to revolts after the very recent election process.” However, as one dream project started to fade, another began to form. Monroe’s group went to Little Haiti in Miami, instead, and still learned a lot and contributed to the community. “We traveled to Miami and worked with Barry University’s service organization,” Monroe said. “We had the opportunity to work with the Haitian community there, Little Haiti, and speak with various nonprofit organizations. We learned about sustainable living, poverty and immigration issues, and bonded in ways I cannot begin to describe.” Even though the new project may not have been as difficult as the original one, Monroe gained insight and was introduced to new worldviews. “The experience was very uplifting and eye-opening,” she said. “Although I did not experience the hardships I originally foresaw, I was finally exposed to the hardships immigrants face in this country. I got to work in the summer Miami heat, and while I was expecting construction work, I was far happier gardening and learning sustainable farming techniques. We got to hear from Haitian immigrants and work with the Barry Service Students within the community. We talked a lot and had plenty of opportunity to listen to others.” Photos courtesy of Allison Monroe
Culture
WHY DO WE LOVE PUMPKIN SO MUCH? DEBUNKING THE REASONS BEHIND PUMPKIN MANIA
Photo by Konrad Witkowski
JESSICA EMERSON
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very autumn, Wal-Mart is filled with the sweet sounds of barcode scanners and capitalism. Squeaky, rusted shopping cart wheels and their overly eager drivers scan the aisles with wide eyes, searching for their fall fix. Shopping bags leave piled high with pumpkin-flavored coffee, pumpkin Pop-Tarts, pumpkin-flavored butter, pumpkin-scented candles, pumpkin-scented body wash, pumpkin-flavored coffee creamer and even pumpkin Laffy Taffy and pumpkin Pringles. Jack O’ Lanterns, gourds and massive pumpkins harbor the porches of many Americans’ homes each fall, and the lines at pumpkin patches get longer as the season grows colder. But, even if the Arkansas heat leaves pumpkin pickers clad in shorts and t-shirts, their incurable desire causes them to delve deep into the pastures each autumn. Every September, the pumpkin spice latte is the return of the messiah for most women in America. Although it doesn’t contain an ounce of pumpkin, the faux pumpkin flavor drives consumers into a frenzy. As the contents of the American pocketbook falls with the leaves, the demand for this overly large, orange gourd increases. The real question is, why do we ignore the apple, pear and fig, and pay such homage to this hefty orange squash every fall?
1IT’S A SYMBOL OF HOME
The pumpkin acts as a mental reminder of home, family and what used to be. Events like “Pooches and Pumpkins” and “Pumpkined Up for Fall” are soothing because pumpkins bring back memories of having Dad help carve a crooked-toothed jack-o’lantern at Halloween, or listening to Aunt Linda tell stories about Mom and Uncle George over a whipped cream-covered pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving. While small towns and neighborly affection are hard to find, the pumpkin has remained a symbol of nostalgia.
2 IT’S A GREAT AESTHETIC
There’s something about the shade and shape of a pumpkin that makes it more enjoyable to stare at than to actually consume. For starters, they’re big. While the biggest things are reserved for Texas, these massive fruits are pretty enormous everywhere. Secondly, they’re orange. Not only have studies shown that the color orange is associated with joy and creativity, but orange is also found to be one of the best accent colors for photos, which is probably why everyone sees at least seven photos of someone holding a pumpkin on their Instagram feed every fall.
3 IT’S ALL SUGAR
Even though pumpkin pie is a delicacy at the family table on Thanksgiving, it doesn’t actually taste like pumpkin. Unless biting into a fresh squash becomes the trendy thing to do, eating real pumpkin would never be appealing. Pairing a pretty fruit with the world’s best break-up ingredient, sugar, is a win for anyone. But, there’s no raw part of a pumpkin that anyone likes eating. No one would enjoy the taste of a pumpkin without the vast amounts of nutmeg, cinnamon and sugar that is put into any pumpkin-flavored or scented product. People like the idea of eating pumpkin, just not the actual pumpkin. While pumpkin Oreos, pumpkin Pop-Tarts and pumpkin coffee may summon warm thoughts of fall, it isn’t the pumpkin talking. It’s probably just the sugar.
DECEMBER 2016
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TAG, YOU’RE (DEAD) Photo by Leah Headley
THE WILD CHASES AND NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCES THAT YOU MISSED DURING ASSASSINS WEEK THE DECEPTIVE DISGUISE We were down to the final 10. It was the last night, and I was eager for an extra kill or two to try and make sure I made it to the top three. I had gone out after my target and chased her into the SLTC, where she ran into the bathroom. She called my assassin, who brought the entire softball team with her to try and tag me. I made it to the second floor of the SLTC and hid for a while. My friend, Ryan Tumminello, came up and met me, and we devised an escape plan. We traded sweatshirts, and he put my hat on; then, we set our plan in motion. We went down the back stairs of the SLTC and out the back door towards Harkrider Street. I ran along the parking lot and around the houses back to my room in Hardin. Meanwhile, Ryan stomped his way around the SLTC and across the parking lot, when the softball team saw him. They started chasing him towards Hardin as he took off. One of the softball players tried to tackle him, thinking he was me. One of our friends saw this happen and attempted to tackle the softball player off Ryan because he, too, thought Ryan was me. At this point, Ryan fell face first into the dirt, and my assassin tagged him. The softball team started celebrating and cheering as Ryan slowly rolled over. He was laughing hysterically as I waved at the softball players from my window and they realized their mistake. They sat outside my window for about an hour as I watched TV and let the clock run out. —Adam Turner
THE LEAP OF FAITH My last class of the day had just ended. Nothing could ruin my weekend now, except for my assassin patiently sitting outside. Her cronies stood behind her, ready to back her up in case anything happened. It was 12:05 p.m. The grace period had ended. With as much force as my little legs could push into the ground, I propelled myself out of the door. I made it to the stairs. Apparently she had tagged me, but the sticker fell off. Since there was no handler to resolve it for us at the moment, she decided that it would be safer to tag me again. She ran towards me, and my mind switched to autopilot. I just needed to survive. I rapidly approached the stairs. With a leap of faith, I jumped down the entire flight of stairs. The landing was rough, but I survived the impact and was still on my two feet. Encouraged by my lack of injury, I continued jumping down all the flights of stairs and ran to the library for safety. My assassin was still in hot pursuit, but halfway between MC and the library, she gave up. Unfortunately for me, the handlers later ruled that I was eliminated, but I wish my jumps had counted for something.—Matt Tran
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THE HENDRIX COLLEGE PROFILE
Culture
Photo by Leah Headley
THE PHYSICS FOE The third day of Assassins was upon us. Our hero had secretly learned of his targets and stealthily avoided death. It was 12:04 p.m., and our dashingly handsome protagonist had a physics class starting in six minutes when tragedy struck. The dastardly villain was none other than a fellow student in his physics class, but he was no match for the cunning guile of our main character’s brain and the swiftness of his feet. Alas, our champion was trapped in the men’s bathroom on first floor of the MC Reynolds building. Down but not out, our hero awaited his fate to befall him, but not without a fight. When his physics professor knocked on the door to the bathroom and threatened his failure in the class for skipping, alongside the cheers and laughter of his fellow classmates, he heroically, valiantly, athletically made his triumphant escape from his assassin not once but twice, and only broke three world records while doing it. He truly put the physics he was studying to work. —Johnny Jenkins
THE HEROIC HURDLE I was told that my assassin had been looking for me. When I found out who it was, I approached them in the caf... just so they’d know I was on to them. Once I left the caf, I went to the game room to play pool with a friend. I’d told them to be on the lookout for a blue shirt and a pink hat. About three shots into my game, I hear “RUN RUN RUN!” I look over my shoulder and see her darting for me, and I make a break towards the door. Once the coast was clear, I decided to go back to the game room to finish my game. Close to the end of my game, I hear a loud thud from behind me. My assassin had changed clothes and once again was storming at me. I ran to one side of the ping pong table, and she was on the other side. Before I knew it, there were girls covering all three exits of the game room. For about five minutes, we had a stand-off, with her constantly faking at me from the other side of the table. I eventually got some guys to open the doors, but I still couldn’t make a run for it. She became impatient and attempted to run around the table. That’s when I ran, jumped between two of her friends attempting to block me by standing shoulder to shoulder, hurdled over the coffee table in the Burrow and again over the double tables by the doors, and ran through the exit. —Kevin Martin
POLL:
WHAT SHOULD A HENDRIX STUDENT BE CALLED? HENDRONIAN
OTHER HENDRIXIAN
HENDRIAN
HENDY
DRIXIE
IN DEBT
Hendronian
OTHER HENDRIXITE
HENDRIXER
16% 2% 1% 1%
Hendrian
Hendrixite Hendrxer Other
DECEMBER 2016
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ULTIMATE FRISBEE’S
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LTIMATE
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RADI
AN UNCONVENTIONAL SPORT BOASTS UNCONVENTIONAL RITUALS
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ltimate Frisbee is no mere sport. It is a clique of disk-slinging, acrobatic, hype frisbee junkies who occasionally compete with other disc-acquaintances. Common sights at an Ultimate Frisbee match include, but are not limited to, hokey pokey-ing during timeouts, advanced jazz-hand exercises and a coin toss with no coin (they flip a freshman instead). Ultimate, as it is affectionately termed, technically has rules—but there is absolutely no way of enforcing them. Dominique Kelleybrew, head of Multicultural Student Services, also coaches the men’s Ultimate team. “There are no referees,” Kelleybrew said. “Everything is pretty much student-regulated,
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THE HENDRIX COLLEGE PROFILE
JENSON CHIER
especially since I’ve only been the coach for two weeks.” Despite his lack of coaching, Kelleybrew, the guy who reminds everybody of Donald Glover, is uniquely qualified for the job. He played Ultimate every year he attended Hendrix as a student, reaching regionals his junior and senior years. “We actually recruited my freshman and sophomore year and became decent my last two years,” Kelleybrew said. “After regionals, we were invited to a tournament in Colorado, but we were like ‘nah.’” That attitude of relaxed fun is what drew Kelleybrew back to the sport and why so many are now active with Utimate.
Photo by Konrad Witkowski
TIONS
IF WE ARE BEING HONEST, THE TEAM IS MORE OF A FAMILY THAN A TEAM.” -SHELDON RANEY
SPORTS Ultimate is a mixture between football and soccer, but with a flying disk. There are three offensive positions: handlers, like quarterbacks; middles, similar to midfielders in soccer; and wings, who have the sole job of chasing the frisbee. Hendrix Ultimate runs the H-stack, which is essentially a bunch of people chasing the frisbee in an organized yet confusing fashion. Defense is played in a man-to-man fashion, if at all. The real uniqueness of the game comes from the fact that there are no referees. Players call their own fouls and violations in the game in real-time, so play stops once a foul is committed. “That’s where this thing called ‘Spirit of the Game’ comes in,” senior team captain Alex Jones said. “It’s this unwritten rule where it’s up to each player to play competitively but never at the expense of sportsmanship, mutual respect for the other team and the fun of playing the game.” Because of the ‘Spirit of the Game,’ very few fouls are ever called during play. Since its inception in 2004, Ultimate’s popularity and competitiveness has fluctuated on campus. “After my last two years, it got kind of clique-ish and for the next couple years we did a horrible job of recruiting and had no upperclassmen. Now we’re in a rebuilding process,” Kelleybrew said. Jones recognizes that Ultimate is hardly about how the team competes. “We present a fun sport that allows students that don’t want to compete in officially sanctioned Hendrix sports teams to have an outlet to compete, learn a new sport and get to know a group of great guys and ladies that hold together a tightly knit frisbee community, whether it’s the Flying Squirrels (men’s team) or the Sugar Gliders (women’s team).” The level of competition is hardly the most important thing to Ultimate’s members, but they do take it seriously. Aside from practicing twice a week for two hours, they find creative ways to improve. “At the end of each tournament, we do this thing called roses and thorns,” sophomore Sheldon Raney said. “We sit in a circle and each person says something positive about the person to their right (the rose) while also saying something critical but constructive about the team as a whole (the thorn).” Seeing Raney passionate about the sport is what makes Jones and the other upperclassmen love it so much. “Just seeing the improvement that our players make after competing with teams other than those they see every Tuesday and Thursday in practice makes me so excited,” Jones said. “I see the confidence build in the team, and that opens up a higher level of play in practice that translates to us doing better in tournaments as the year progresses.” Every year during spring break, Ultimate goes to High Tide, a tournament located in South Carolina. They stay in a house on North Myrtle Beach. “One time at High Tide, Andres Velasquez dug a gigantic hole on the beach,” said Raney. “It was big enough to fit at least 20 people, and eventually we just started hanging out there.” The tournaments that Ultimate travels to give the team members opportunities to do things they never would have done without Ultimate. “Sophomore year, we went to a Mardi Gras-themed tournament in Baton Rouge, Louisiana,” Jones said. “We realized while we were there that Mardi Gras was actually happening that weekend in New Orleans. We drove an [additional] hour and a half after being exhausted from a full day of play, paid the overpriced parking garage fee and saw the floats and festivities. I probably never would have done that without Ultimate.” For the last decade, Ultimate has been hosting its own tournament, the Hendrix Ultimate Experience, or HUX. It serves as a learning experience for the younger members of the team, or, as Kelleybrew put it, “a hyperbolic time chamber in Dragonball Z.” Alumni come together and duke it out with the current team, creating a huge scrum of flying discs and Hendrix students. “[HUX] fosters a sense of, ‘wow, I’ll get to do that someday!’ I can’t wait to join the alumni next year,” Jones said. Near the end of the year, Ultimate camps on Mt. Nebo to say goodbye to the seniors before they graduate. “Everyone signs discs, we hand out awards, and overall it’s a sentimental time for the team,” Raney said. “Since it’s our last gathering, I love seeing how much people have bonded over the year. If we are being honest, the team is more of a family than a team, and I’m a proud member of that family.” DECEMBER 2016
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1600 Washington Ave Conway, AR 72032