Seventy Years Of The Worcester Polytechnic Institute: Page 226

trial shortly before the date of the contest. The Student Y. M. C. A. gradually expanded its activities to include not only religious meetings but assistance to students in securing quarters and in social affairs. Its fall reception to freshmen became an increasingly important function. In the spring of 1911 the advisory committee secured Clarence P. Shedd, a graduate of Clark, who had been engaged in Y. M. C. A. work at New Bedford, to be general secretary of the Tech association.

The first Tech Banquet, in January, 1903, was the beginning of a long series of annual social contacts between faculty and students that were most enjoyable. Professor Coombs was toastmaster, and the speakers were Dr. Engler, Dr. Haynes, Professor Sinclair, and class representatives. Early banquets were held at the Bay State House, later ones at the State Mutual Restaurant. Dr. Engler amazed the audience in 1910 by singing "Old Dog Tray" instead of making a speech. The 1911 banquet was a testimonial to him on the eve of his retirement, at which time Dr. Haynes paid him a fine tribute. Class banquets occasionally made news, particularly the Half-way Through affairs of junior classes; efforts to break up the banquets of the 1904 and 1905 classes produced some notoriety and much damage to the inns where they were held.

Class rivalry later took the form of a rush, staged by the two lower classes in the fall, usually on the city common. One student was injured in the 1907 rush, and in the rush of the following year, Emil Gran of the 1911 class suffered a broken neck, which caused his death a week later. Students were quite willing to agree with the faculty edict that this brutal custom be stopped. A plan was then developed for an annual rope pull, to be contested by freshmen and sophomores on opposite sides of Institute Pond. Forty husky members of the 1912 and 1913 classes met there in the fall of 1909. After only eleven minutes of vigorous tugging, the freshmen pulled their opponents into the muddy water. Subsequent contests

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Last Modified: Fri Jul 30 11:15:25 EDT 1999