Traditions and Legends

From Special Collections Research Center Wiki

Jump to: navigation, search

At the College of William and Mary, there is a great number of traditions, secret locations, rumors, and urban legends. This page is meant as a brief introduction to these varied events, locations, and stories.

Contents

Official and Unofficial Traditions

  • Blowout: Imbibe in quantities of alcohol to mark the last day of classes. This tradition was formerly only marked on the last day of classes by seniors in the spring semester. It has expanded to the fall semester and underclassmen. Graduating seniors may also visit their freshmen dorms and toast their first dorm room. The university began offering alcohol-free alternatives to commemorate the final day of classes.
  • Candlelight Ceremony: The evening candlelight ceremony on the eve of commencement was first held in May 1978.
  • Charter Day
  • Commemoration Day
  • Commencement
  • King and Queen’s Ball: Held at the end of each Spring semester; created in the 1980s based on a previously discontinued dining and concert event. (King and Queen's Ball, Tour Guides Blog)
  • Opening Convocation
  • Triathlon: (1) Jump the wall of the Governor's Palace in Colonial Williamsburg and/or run through the maze of the Governor's Palace, (2) Swim (sometimes naked) in the Crim Dell, (3) streak across the Sunken Garden. There is reportedly also an English Majors Triathlon with one component being spending 24 hours in Swem Library.
  • Walk Across Campus: The commencement ceremony currently begins with the graduates gathering in front of the Wren Building for a brief ceremony, walking through the building's central hallway, and across campus to William and Mary Hall where the commencement ceremony is held. The walk across campus is led by the outgoing Student Association president who carries the College Mace and by the faculty marshalls. It was first held in May 1978.
  • Yule Log Ceremony

Legends and Urban Legends

  • If a couple kisses on the bridge across the Crim Dell, they will inevitably marry. To reverse this destiny, a person can later throw their partner off of the bridge. If a person walks across the bridge alone they will not marry.
  • The Crim Dell was ranked by Playboy magazine as the second most romantic spot on a college campus. According to an article in The Flat Hat, "Mark Duran, the research librarian at the Playboy Research Library in Chicago, classified th story as pure urban legend. “We have done those types of lists in the past, but William and Mary has never been on one of those lists,” he said. In fact, the College has never even graced the pages of Hef’s vaulted tome."[1]
  • Another from the same article in The Flat Hat holds that "College was invited to join the Ivy League in the 1950s, but declined. Another version states that there is a pending invitation to join." The Ivy League refers to an athletic conference formed in 1954 and there is no evidence that William and Mary, or another institution, was invited or declined.[2]
  • Morton Hall was built on a sinkhole and has been sinking into the ground for several years.[3]
  • The Wren Building was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. In fact, Wren never actually visited North America. He was the Surveyor General under King William, so it is plausible that College President Reverend James Blair brought designs back with him after receiving the charter for the school. The prime piece of evidence that purports the attribution of the building’s design to Wren is a book written by a William and Mary professor, Hugh Jones (for whom Jones Hall is named), in 1724, called '‘The Present State of Virginia. There is a quotation that says, "The building is beautiful and commodious, being first modeled by Sir Christopher Wren, adapted to the nature of the country by the gentlemen there." Given the doubt surrounding the building’s origins, Louise Kale, Executive Director of the Historic Campus summed up the current sentiment about the debate: "It may not be a Christopher Wren building, but it is the Christopher Wren Building".[4]
  • McGlothlin-Street Hall was built backwards. The building does look different from other buildings on the Old Campus, which can be attributed to the fact that it was built decades after the other buildings.[5]

Hauntings

  • The spirits of several disgruntled former students are said to haunt Tucker Hall.[6]
  • The spirits of students who were forced to attend the Indian School that was housed in the Brafferton run across campus, especially the Sunken Garden, at night.

"Secret" Locations

  • Lake Matoaka Ampitheatre, Boathouse, and Woods
  • Echo Point at the Tyler Family Busts: if a person stands at the precise center of the circle, with his back at the 3 busts of the Tyler family and facing Blair Hall and speaks, the speaker alone experiences a strange acoustic phenomenon and hears his words reverberated and amplified.
  • Greenhouse on the roof of Millington Hall
  • Observatory on the roof of Small Hall
  • Jamestown Road Tunnel
  • Underground Steam Tunnels

In the News

Share Your Memories

Do you want to share your memories of the recent or distant past? You are welcome to create an account and add your memories to this section of the SCRC Wiki page or if you prefer, contact University Archivist Amy Schindler (acschi@wm.edu or 757-221-3094). In either case, please include your name and class year. We look forward to hearing from you.

Need help?

To search for further material, see Finding Materials in the SCRC for an introduction to the SCRC Collections Database, card catalogs, Flat Hat-William & Mary News-Alumni Gazette index, etc.

Questions? Contact the SCRC at spcoll@wm.edu or 221-3090, or visit the Special Collections Research Center in the Earl Gregg Swem Library at the College of William and Mary (hours).

A Note About The Contents Of This Wiki
Unfortunately, many of the early original records of the College of William and Mary were destroyed by fire, military occupation, and the normal effects of time. The information available here is the best available from known documents and sources at the time it was written. Information in this wiki is not complete as new information continues to be uncovered in the SCRC's collections and elsewhere. Researchers are strongly encouraged to use the SCRC's access tools for their research as the information contained in this wiki is by no means comprehensive.
Retrieved from "http://scrc.swem.wm.edu/wiki/index.php/Traditions_and_Legends"