Freshman-Sophomore Contests
At Adelbert, it was the “Flag Rush.” The flag in question was raised up a greased pole, which was guarded by the sophomores. The freshmen’s goal was to retrieve the flag and deliver it to the dorm steps before a certain amount of time elapsed. The 1922 event was reported in The Reserve Weekly, the student newspaper. The time for this contest was shortened from 1 hour to 45 minutes. The flagpole could be no taller than 35 feet high and it had to be between 9-18 inches in diameter. Tar and “all metallic instruments” were forbidden, but they were permitted to use rotten egg “grenades” and splash red paint on one another. Approximately 80 sophomores successfully defended against 150 freshmen. Unknown to most of the participants that day, a movie camera captured the action, and the film was screened soon after on campus. In 1936, another video was taken, which has been digitized.
At Case, the contest changed over time. The original event, the “Flag Rush,” was similar to Adelbert’s. The “Pushball Contest” took its place in 1911. The ball was wooden, covered with a thin padding under a canvas cover, and stood shoulder high. The freshmen pushed from one side and the sophomores pushed from the other, as a sort of reverse tug-of-war. Most accounts describe modest yardage gained by either class. In 1922 the “Bag Rush” replaced the Pushball Contest. Several sand-filled bags were place in the center of the field, each with a team of sophomores and freshmen attempting to move the bag across the opponent’s goal line. The winner was the team with the most yardage. The reward for the winners was the privilege of flying their class banner on the college pole for the rest of the week.
At Mather, it was the less combative “Flag Hunt.” The sophomores hid a 6x6 inch flag with the freshmen’s class year on it. The rules also stated that “the flag must be out of sight, but in an accessible place. The place should be a little out of the ordinary in some way.” The sophomores were very creative, hiding it in a basketball, a garden hose, and inside the lining of a knitting bag in various years. By 1952, the rules were amended to have the flag slightly stick out of its hiding place. If the freshmen failed to find the flag, they were subject to pre-approved punishments and demands. If the freshmen were successful, they were excused from the sophomores’ plans. There was often an additional wager between the classes that the loser had to buy dinner for the winners.
Sources
For more information about Freshmen-Sophomore contests, see the list of published histories on our CWRU Archives Sources page. In addition to the published histories, information comes from records in the Case Western Reserve University Archives.
