One of the consequences of getting rid of chapel...
"Pranks seem to have declined in recent years. Why? Perhaps because the students so rarely get together as a group any longer, thus reducing the incentive to be imaginative. For it is an undeniable fact that some of the best pranks of the past were performed in that one place where the students were required to meet: chapel.
Many ingenious methods were invented by Ursinus students to keep chapel from being too outrageously dull. One of the best was the “three alarm caper,” recounted for the Weekly by Dr. Helferrich. One fine day, a group of students hid three alarm clocks in the chapel, each set to go off about five or six minutes apart. All of a sudden: Bringggggggg! By the time the commotion from the first alarm had settled down, the second alarm would explode. And when the third alarm went off, the service was destroyed for good!
Other great chapel disrupters that are still vivid in the minds of some of our distinguished faculty members, Dr. Donald Baker and Dr. Robert Howard. Incidents such as:
- the time two mangled chickens were discovered in the Bomberger chapel piano by Dr. William Philip.
- the time a headless turtle was hung from the ceiling of Bomberger and caused a great deal of disturbance to chapel-goers.
- the time students loosened all the screws on the chapel seats and the assembly had to be cancelled because religion was unsafe that day.
- the day the dignified picture of Dr. Bomberger was given a new feature – a can of Budweiser imposed over his hand.
- Or the day Dr. Carolyn Doan, who had the habit of analyzing a hymn line by line whenever she was the speaker found the hymnals removed from the pews. Embarrassment!!!”
(Many of the Greatest Pranks Took Place in Chapel, By Michael Micolic, Janet Stemmler, and Georgette Griffith, page 4, Ursinus Weekly, Volume LXVIII, No. 6, December 19, 1968)
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Those animal abuse 'pranks' are both gross and cruel. What kind of values was the College imparting? Or what kind of students was Ursinus admitting? Not only those who came up with the idea of harming animals, but those who might have been amused by it, should have been embarrassed and censured.
ReplyDeleteNow the alarm clocks -- we executed a modern version of that on April Fool's day a couple of years ago: we hid cell phones in someone's office, and as soon as he found one, the next started ringing. THAT was funny!
I loved today's post! It goes to show you that there are quite a few interesting stories in the Weekly. I'll have to tag along to the archives one of these days and look for some more of these fun topics. Also, I hate to make myself a suspect, but Ursinus College should be prepared for similar pranks before the year is over. All for the sake of nostalgia.
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