Hanover College Triangle

Personal Narratives, 1959-1966

The following are personal narratives selected from articles in the Triangle  to illustrate life at Hanover in the 1960s.



"A Disgruntled 'Inactive Revolutionist,'" letter to the editor, Hanover College Triangle, 23 Oct. 1959, 2.

To the writer of: "Are Students Apathetic -- Or Inactive Revolutionists."

{1}Upon reading your article I experienced a slow burn.  I am one of your "Inactive Revolutionists," whether I like it or not.

{2}You say that I am a complainer, to which I'll admit I am.  But in my two years in the dorm I have witnessed too many "revolutions."  These revolutions, staged by my dormmates and I were directed toward the Dean of Men.  We asked our parents to write to the Dean; and we signed numerous petitions.

{3} For a while we got results.  The Dean visited our homes and participated in conferences with the people directly responsible for the food situation.  But this was too good to last.

{4} After a few weeks of improved dorm food the improvement lapsed and finally returned to its former state.

{5} Now you ask, "So why don't you try it again?"  Well, put yourself in the place of the "Inactive Revolutionists."  Wouldn't you feel discouraged somewhat if your efforts had gone to nought?  Frankly, we did!

{6} In the past few years, others have taken it upon themselves to gripe openly about the dorm food.  Some of these gripes were carried to the Dietician herself, perhaps through sheer desperation.  The complaintants were told by the Dean to "lay off."

{7} Now it may seem to you that I am a fatalist, but what else am I to do?  If I am again an originator of a petition I am very likely to be labelled a "sorehead" by the administration.  If I take my problems to the Dietician I will have the Dean to contend with.  I had the feeling that he resented my stand the last time.

{8} Therefore I am resigned to the fact that our dorm food is destined to be the brunt of compaints, petitions or no petitions, gripes or no gripes.  Moreover, I feel it is my sacred right to be able to complain about our food, whether it be leftovers or warmovers.

{9} Am I wrong in this contention?  I think not.  If I seem a bit embittered, contribute it to experience.  As I said before, I am an old hand at Revolutions, active or inactive.

-- A Disgruntled "Inactive Revolutionist"






David Bontrager,  "Bontrager Blasts Recent Sophomore 'Hazing' Party," Hanover College Triangle, 23 Sept. 1960, 6.

To the Editor:

{1}Tuesday evening as I walked out of the dining hall at MRH, I was more than mildly surprised to see a double line of members of the sophomore class complete with paddles. Naturally being familiar with most of the policies of this college covering student activities, this perturbed me no end since it appeared that some, shudder, hazing was about to take place.

{2}Now, we upperclassmen all know, or at least should know that such activity is strictly forbidden here at Hanover. As this apparent disregard for the rules of procedure (See Student Handbook, 1959-1960, page 28, number 9) continued.

{3} In past years, the Varsity H Club, which is a club comprised of major letter winners in inter-collegiate athletics from Hanover, was in charge of selling freshmen beanies and, I might add, the enforcement of this tradition. Admittedly, the enforcement procedures employed by this club were not the best, but they were fairly effective.

{4}This enforcement (hazing) brought protests from many quarters. The Varsity H Club was asked to remove this odious practice from the Hanover College scene.

{5}This action was taken on the basis that enforcement of the "wearing of the green" by hazing was against the rules and just downright improper. Now the school supports the sale of beanies to the incoming freshmen by the College Store at a price slightly higher than that asked by the Varsity H and apparently allows the enforcement of the tradition by such a fiasco as we witnessed Tuesday evening.

{6}Naturally I have come to notice some inconsistencies in this behavior. Is not hazing the same whether it be done by the Varsity H or by the sophomore class? I believe that there is no appreciable difference.

{7}I am writing this letter as a member of Varsity H and as a concerned member of the college community. I cannot and do not purport to speak for the Varsity H or any of the rest of its membership, but only to express my own concern.

Sincerely,
David Bontrager



Hal Bean, "Reply to Bontrager," Hanover College Triangle, 30 Sept. 1960, 2.

Letter to the Editor:
{1}As a freshman I participated in the freshman-sophomore get-together a week ago last Tuesday.  I use the word get-together because it certainly implies the idea and spirit of our meeting much better than what Mr. Bontrager has called "hazing."

{2} This was a get-together to instill a little spirit into our class, and as any sophomore or freshman will tell you, that was the main emphasis in the meeting.  Sure, we saw paddles, but we knew they were only for looks.   When we came to Hanover we knew that the paddle or any other means of hazing was forbidden.

{3} At no time since have we been intimidated by any upperclassmen.  I think just this fact alone shoots all sorts of holes in Mr. Bontrager's little article.

{4} I think Dave Healey put a good idea across in his article to the campus!  The meeting we had last week certainly did not hurt.

{5} Our class shouted last Saturday along with the sophomore class.  We tried to help our team in the only way we could - - SUPPORT!  One thing we were noticeably missing, however, was the support of Mr. Bontrager's class.  I think you should criticize only when you can do better.

{6} I am writing this letter as a proud member of a proud freshman class.

Sincerely,

Hal Bean

 



Fred Fish, "It's Hard Not to Quit," Hanover College Triangle, 13 Oct. 1962, 4.

{1}"My face was in the mud.  From my position the outlook was not bright, it wasn't even dim, I wondered whether to get up -- for I knew I'd be kicked back down.  But I got up.  I got up in time to see my buddy pushed into the ground, and I felt compassion and then pride as he crawled up, spit, and snarled, 'We'll knock 'em apart on the next one.'" 

{2}I was encouraged, yet I knew he was wrong.  We wouldn't rack them the next time or any other time.  We'd get licked -- I knew it; and what was even worse, my buddy knew it -- but he pretended.  He was kidding me -- or maybe himself.  But there's no shame in getting beat by someone better than us.  They were better than us -- weren't they?  At least I thought they were." 

{3}"Remarkably, in spite of our realism, we played on.  It was the kind of game I had to think up a new stimulus after each play.  Woody Hayes says there nothing without victory. But he's wrong, he couldn't be right.  I prayed to God he wasn't right.  Anybody can find desire if he's winning.  It takes raw courage to respond to defeat -- doesn't it?

{4}Fight! Fight! Fight!

{5}"I was on my back again.  I could hear 'Kennedy's soft Americans' screaming, 'Fight! Fight! Fight!'  What the hell did they know about fighting?  The only line they ever fought was the one to the popcorn stand." 

{6}"Everybody plays to win.  Yet there must be something greater than victory.  One is no less great if he gives his all, but loses.  I play for love of sport.  That's the important thing -- isn't it?"

{7}"The end was near, and I could read the print in the sports column where that idiot says, "Never have so many blocked so little or tackled so few.  I'd like to see him behind a tackle, instead of that pencil." 

{8}"When one is consistently beaten into the dirt, it's not easy to repress the urge to quit.  But there is an inner pride that prods one on."

{9}"The ball was centered and the lines charged. From my position, flat on my back, beneath the pile, I was in ideal position to hear somebody's ankle snap.  When the pile unsnarled, I looked around and discovered I was the only one on the ground. 

{10}"I'd been hoping all game I'd find a reason for playing.  But now I had an excuse.  At least I hadn't quit on the field -- had I?"




Sue Kuc, "Sophomore Slump:  An Ending or a Beginning?" Hanover College Triangle, 20 Sept. 1963, 2.

{1}When I was a freshman, I thought I understood the term "Sophomore Slump." It was, I felt, the situation which occurred when the sophomore girls were left dateless by upperclassmen who rushed the freshmen girls and when members of the class lost the novelty of their first year without gaining a full feeling of "belonging" or "being necessary." It didn't seem to pose too great a problem -- just something that was endured for a year and forgotten at the end of it.

{2} The Slump, though, isn't quite as simple as it sounds. It can occur in sophomores who are among the busiest and most active on campus. It can happen to girls who date different guys every night. It can take hold in a sophomore who is indeed necessary to the campus because of a position of responsibility.

{3}Sophomore Slump is the gradual realization that college may just not be worth it. It causes the slumped ones to wonder if the daily experiences on campus are truly making "better people." It makes its victims wonder if learning is anything more than acquiring facts -- most of which don't remain.

{4}The slump places the "eternal friends" of college in their proper perspective -- people who will be replaced by other friends just as they replaced previous ones. It strips away the rosey hue of "college" and all that the word implies and puts the sophomore -- the wise fool -- face to face with himself.

{5}In this position, there are few places to turn. Friends -- or enemies -- who have or have not been through the experience are of little help. For some reason, the defeat of -- or by -- the slump is up to the individual. When the realization that life is not always beautiful and gay hits, no one except the affected person can make the life beautiful -- or gay -- or meaningful.

{6}Sophomore Slump ends eventually, I suppose, if for no other reason than that at the end of the sophomore year, it can no longer be called a Sophomore Slump. The depression into which it sends its victims probably disappears after a while, but I have a feeling that the actual essence of the Slump -- coming face to face with life -- goes on long after the year itself ends.

{7}In this way, the Slump could be the beginning of what life is really all about and the acquisition of the principles upon which that life should be based. In the long run, I suppose, it can be constructive instead of a destructive experience.

{8}In its initial days, however -- before the principles develop -- Sophomore Slump is an empty, lonely feeling which gives way to an empty, lonely existence.



Sue Kuc, "Etc.," Hanover College Triangle, 4 Oct. 1963, 4.

{1}College is rough, regardless of how you add it up, the answer generally comes out the same.  Keeping up in three classes, each of which requires a thirty-page reading assignment every day, is in itself bad enough, and when exams come around, the going really gets rough.

{2} With the exception of students who have taken three years of a langauge in high school, fudge a litte on the placement test, and end up in a first year class that requires little effort, college students are finding that making the grade often results in headaches, writers' cramp, tired eyes and lack of sleep.  Thus, college becomes something to be merely endured until it is completed and the student can go on to other (easier) things.

{3} Well, friends, those of you who are presently "enduring" and are planning to go on to grad school have another surprise coming.  It seems that life after college isn't any easier.

{4} Fred Kuemmerle, a 1963 Hanover graduate, is presently a freshman in the University of Cincinnati's College of Medicine.  While he studied at Hanover, this guy was hardly an "endurer."  Besides graduating with approximately a 3.3 average, Fred managed to keep himself busy by working as a biology lab assistant, being Senior Class treasurer, and serving his fraternity in several offices.  He knew the feeling of being rushed, tired, endlessly busy, etc, etc.

{5} Having been in classes at U. C. for two weeks, Fred writes, ". . . let me tell you I never thought school could be so hard.  They cover so much material each day it's almost impossible to keep up.  It's like having a final exam every day.  I haven't been to bed before 1 or 2 a. m. any day this week."  He continues, writing about his cadaver.  "We've covered the whole back, its muscles, veins, arteries, nerves etc., already and have an oral exam over our dissection on Wednesday.  I'm scared to death!  Hope I pass."

{6} All this after only two weeks of classes!

{7} Anyone care to go to the library with me tonight???



Henry Hamman, "Greenies Grasp College Ways," Hanover College Triangle, 18 Sept. 1964, 3.

{1}Arriving on the campus, I was struck by how similar, in many ways, hanover is to the private school I attended last year.  The dorms and the campus seemed much the same.  However, as soon as I started registering for a room, I saw that things were not at all the same.

{2} Where I was used to confusion, things ran smoothly.  And, after years of "Southern Hospitality," it was a revelation to me that people could be so friendly and helpful.  I had half expected that the upperclassmen would take a sort of sadistic pleasure in confusing the new freshmen, but this type of activity seems to be passe here.

{3} Having visited and lived on several other college and university campuses, I had formed the opinion that college students looked on life with a rather blase, pseudo-sophisticated view.  Again, I was wrong.  The people on the campus seem to be excited with the prospect of learning, and interested by all the world.

{4} To point up this awaredness of the world, the first meeting of the forensics group seems typical.  The meeting started out as a discussion of the various types of debate activities, but was soon an active discussion of politics, especially on the national scene.  Almost everyone had an opinion, and aired it well and reasonably.  To one used to the provincial outlook of most high school students, interested only in things concerning them immediately, this was a great and welcome change.

{5} In a different area, the reading requirements of my classes were rather startling.  I had heard that in college one would read more than in high school.  However, when I bought my books for the first time, I was, at the least, surprised to find that I would be expected to read as much in the first fourteen weeks as for my whole senior year in high school, while I was carrying six solid subjects.

{6} All these things impressed me greatly, but the thing that stands out in my mind as the most important difference between high school and Hanover is the complete reversal of concern on the part of the college for the student.  In high school, you either do as you are told, and are suitably rewarded, or you disobey and are scolded -- so to speak.  The whole atmosphere of high school is dependent on this paternal attitude toward the student.

{7} However, here at Hanover, one is told, "You are an adult, and are expected to act as one."  No one tells you to study, to be well behaved, or even to go to class.  It is expected of you.  Here, if you act in an adult manner, no one will question your individual actions.  If you cannot accept the responsibility, you leave.  It is simple but quite a shock.

{8} As I read over what I have written, I realize that it is in essence the same thing that I have read and heard for the last four years.  But when I heard it before, there was an air of unreality about it.  Now I know that it is all true.




Sue Baum, "Greenies Grasp College Ways,"
Hanover College Triangle, 18 Sept. 1964, 3.

{1}Upon looking back on my first day at Hanover, I am plagued by memories of long lines and the terrible sensation of thousands of butterflies going wild in my stomach.

{2}I also recall having the feeling that I was being fleeced when I reached the end of the first of many long lines, but of course this was done in the friendly Hanover tradition.  While someone grabbed five dollars out of my left hand for an unexplained purpose an overly-zealous senior pulled a beanie down over my eyebrows and eagerly demanded a dollar to pay for the privilege of wearing this indescribably piece of millinery.  The last person in this den of robbers shoved a "wolf book" in my empty right hand and grabbed a quarter out of my left.

{3} From there I was led to my room, which I must confess struck me as having a close resemblance to a cell - - too close!  The only consolance I had was that I would have an inmate - - oops, I mean roommate - - to keep me from beating my head against the wall.

{4} Finally, after all the sad farewells to the family, all of us freshly beanied greenies were marched to the auditorium for the beginning of orientation.

{5} From Parker we were herded over to Lynn Hall for a mixer dance.  But I'm afraid that aching arches got the best of most of us, and our rooms (which no longer looked like barren cells) were a welcome sight.  Even the pink walls with green trim and a blue floor didn't repel me.  And so ended my first day at Hanover.

{6} Since that day I have been forced to stand in other long lines and herded to other metings where I was greeted with more rules; but somehow it's different now.  I guess I'm getting used to this place called Hanover, and if my aching feet hold out through all these lines I suppose I'll stay.  Besides, the food's good.



Mark Bell, letter to the editor, Hanover College Triangle, 30 Oct. 1964, 2.

Dear Editor:

{1} Student apathy concerning political affairs is becoming quite evident in campus life.  There is a total lack of informed concern.  People spend time in bull sessions hashing and rehashing second-hand knowledge but do not spend time trying to find out about issues and candidates for themselves.

{2} We of PAF feel that an extensive program designed to inform people about actual campaign issues will best benefit the campus and will replace second-hand bull-session knowledge with factual information.

{3} In no other election year have the issues been so contrasting and the people so uninformed.  In no other election year of the people had such an opportunity to vote their convictions - - the conservative can vote for a conservative; the liberal for a liberal.

{4} It is hoped that the campus will realize the necessity of being well-informed and will use the available means to familiarize themselves with the campaign issues.

Mark Bell



M. J. Henschen, "Readers Wants 'Actors' Rather Than 'Gripers,'" Hanover College Triangle, 16 Oct. 1965, 2.

To the Editors of the Triangle:

{1} Last week's Sunday Seminar speaker, Rev. John Cameron of Hattiesburg, Miss., has an attitude lacking among Hanover students -- the conviction that he can do something to help right certain evils he sees in his immediate community. And he has risked more than his B.A. to try to bring about a change in racial attitudes. However, this letter is not about Rev. Cameron or 'civil rights'; it is about us.

{2}We at Hanover are apt to get terribly concerned over national and international issues of injustice, although this concern comes to fruition about two years late, after those who would have been killed are buried and those jailed, released. And the further away the trouble, the better. Most of us can afford to go to Mississippi next summer: besides it's "camp" to do so.

{3}Willing to do Something
How many of us are willing to do more than gripe about the things we believe to be amiss at Hanover College? There isn't much national publicity attached to the College blacklist, if such a thing exists. Most of us know quite realistically that our parents might never understand why we question whether we, as students, have rights like those in normal society. I'm fairly sure very few would be sympathetic.

{4} "What good does it do anyhow?" Any college administration that even implies an attitude of "If you don't like it, you can leave" to responsible criticism of insiders, doesn't really deserve anyone's (faculty or student or parent) serious concern. Or does it?

{5}Hanover could be a dynamic college if we weren't afraid to speak up for what we believe would better the College and, if we thought our views would be considered, not laughed at. Even though the majority of us are legally minors, we are not idiots and do attempt to react rationally to the environment in which we find ourselves. We also know from American Government courses that any seeming democratic institution with insufficient checks upon the administrative head soon become tyrannies.

{6}Disciplinary Action
We hear, usually by rumor, that whatever disciplinary action is taken by the College, no matter how severe, is to the best interest of the student involved. Surely this only holds if we as students have a chance to appeal any unfair decision to our own peer group. Is the basis of concern in these cases the student or the Hanover College 'Christian' image? I wonder.

{7}What are we in college for? To play a grown up game of 'Mother, May I', through our student organization, or to use what we have supposedly learned in class to help govern ourselves in this microcosm of 'reality.'

Yours respectfully,
Miss M. J. Henschen
Senior Citizen



Margaret Taggart, "A Compliment. . ." and Scott Stamper et al., "And a Cut," Hanover College Triangle, Hanover College Triangle,
28 Oct. 1966, 2.

"A Compliment. . ."

To the Editors:

May I take this opportunity to thank everyone who had a part in making Homecoming such a success. All of us felt that in planning the wishes of all the alums were considered. Thanks again for a wonderful day.

Margaret Taggart, President
Hanover College Alumni Association

"And A Cut. . ."

To the Editors:

If Hanover is to be considered truly a progressive institution, some outward sign of progress should be demonstrated. A fine first step would be to replace the obsolete 48-star flags that are displayed at our athletic contests with what most people consider to be the flag of the United States, the 50-star flag.

If the athletic department would make this move, this would add six years of progress to our fine institution. Or maybe the Board of Trustees finds the states of Alaska and Hawaii inconsistent with the policies of the United States of America.

Scott Stamper
Jeff Nelson
Ben Blemker
Mike Crawford
Karl Burr
Sedgwick Clark 


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