which he was asked to decide whether these men had not forfeited their
right to Graduates' Aid prizes. He answered that they had not. A
similar affair took place on December 31, 1881. Several students
entered the shops and painted fantastic designs on several crates of
drawing stands that were awaiting shipment. One was apprehended and
he, a man of high scholarship who had been class president, was
dismissed.
The most serious clash between students and faculty grew out of a
disturbance at an Amherst glee club concert in February, 1881. Many
students attended and sat in the gallery. They were noisy and
turbulent. At the close of the concert, a group of the troublemakers
was accosted in the hall by a faculty member, who ordered them to go
home. He chose one senior as the major culprit and this man refused to
obey the order. The following day a special faculty meeting was called
and the scapegoat was given a statement of regret to sign. On
Mr. Salisbury's advice he signed it. Thereupon, seventy-five students
held a protest meeting and signed a communication to the faculty,
which was somewhat defiant and disrespectful. At the end, they
requested the faculty, "as gentlemen," to give them an answer. This
aroused the faculty thoroughly.
Two days later it was decided that the protest was somewhat too
severe, so the signatures were withdrawn and a milder letter
written. Even this was unsatisfactory, and students were told that no
statement of the faculty's position would be made until all signatures
were withdrawn. The students capitulated and were given a long
exposition on the law by Principal Thompson, who laid special emphasis
on the catalogue statement, "Students are expected at all times to
demean themselves in a quiet and gentlemanly manner." It was a faculty
victory, but a hollow one, for the students were never convinced that
their cause had been fairly tried. It was during this period of
general suspension that the raid on the Oread took place.
Participation in these escapades and sports developed class unity and
a certain amount of college spirit. The deep
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