Sallyportal: Madly Blogging Reed

The Pelting of the Freshmen

By Chris Lydgate '90 on April 27, 2012 12:09 PM

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Eliot Circle erupted in a flurry of snowballs this morning as upperclassmen enacted a relatively new tradition, the Pelting of the Freshmen, after the final Hum 110 lecture of the academic year.

Unidentified upperclassmen (rumored to include Seth Douglas '13 and Jeremy Lawrence '12) drove a pickup truck to Mount Hood, loaded the bed with snow, and lay in wait for the unwary freshlings to emerge from Vollum. Cheers rent the air as the youngsters streamed down the steps and the icy fusillade commenced.

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Having no suitable ammunition (beside insults) with which to retaliate, the freshlings beat a hasty retreat, leaving the upperclassmen bereft of targets for their remaining snowballs. This was soon remedied by the expedient of lobbing projectiles at one another, and pretty soon the scene was one of complete anarchy.

Although snow is rare in Portland, campus snowball fights have a long and hallowed tradition. Jim Kahan '64 remembers one occasion when students drove to Mt Hood in a VW bus, packed the back seat with snow, and proceeded to wage an epic contest in the old commons (now the SU) with rival factions hurling snowballs from the two opposing balconies.

Several current juniors claim that President Colin Diver launched a few shots in a melee that took place their freshman year, although this could not be independently confirmed.

snowfight4.jpgAs far as we could tell, bystanders at today's scrimmage (including hum prof Robert Knapp and your humble correspondent) escaped the onslaught unscathed.

Tags: Hum 110, snow, student life, traditions