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Kissing Bridge
It is said that a female student isn’t officially a co-ed
until she has been kissed on the bridge before the first snowfall.
Hmmm. The Kissing Bridge received a makeover and a new location
in the late 1990s when it was rebuilt closer to Colden Hall.
University Seal/Bell Tower
The University’s seal, which is based on the State of Missouri
seal, sits in the center of the Bell Tower. It is customary for
students to avoid walking on the seal out of respect for WHOM?
However, in later years, word was anyone who trod on the seal
risked flunking all their final exams.
Walkout Day
Everybody reveres the tradition of skipping class the Friday before
Homecoming, but did you know it was begun by two literary societies
on campus? In 1915, students from the Eurekans and the Philomatheans
quietly made plans to walk out of class. They dutifully showed
up for their 8 a.m. classes, when suddenly, a bugle sounded through
the halls, and 208 students (out of 300 enrolled) abruptly left.
They all marched past the President’s Residence, singing
the Normal School songs and shouting the school yells. Unfortunately,
President Richardson thought the throng of students looked like
an insurrection, and he let them have it. The students merely
laughed, and not long after, the president was able to join in
the laughter. He later gave permission to continue the tradition,
as long as the president was notified.
Early Walkout Days retained the surprise
factor, and students waited in eager anticipation for the day
when the bugle (and later the Bell of 48) would sound, signaling
their freedom. In these years, Walkout Days were characterized
by picnics in the woods and baseball games between students and
faculty. In the ’40s and ’50s, the day became associated
with the annual freshman initiation. These days, the event is
inextricably tied in with Homecoming and is built into the schedule.
Students usually use the day to prepare Homecoming house decorations
and parade floats, as well as take advantage of the party atmosphere
throughout town. At 8 a.m. each Walkout Day, the president of
the Student Senate and the University president ceremonially ring
the Memorial Bell of ’48, an echo of the first bugle’s
notes.
Mike the Dog
Before Bobby Bearcat, we had Mike the Dog. He was a little tramp
dog who frequented the campus in 1916-1917 and endeared himself
to students and faculty alike. He was a big sports fan, never
missing a home game and proudly wearing his green and white “M”
blanket. Sometimes he went to classes and sat under the instructor’s
desk. He met his end when he inadvertently drank arsenate of lead,
mistaking it for water. Students collected money to pay for a
stone monument to their canine companion, and the marker stands
today to the east of the Administration Building. Despite the
headstone, the memory of Mike was lost for several decades, but
today freshmen learn about this early school mascot through Freshman
Seminar classes.
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