The tradition that ended was known as the Class Rush. To directly quote Robert Sibley¹s California Pilgrimage:
Freshman on the night before Charter Day, on March 22nd, were supposed to climb the hill above the Greek Theatre up where the Big ³C² is now located, taking with them a barrel of white lime for marking their class numerals on the hillside. The sophomores were supposed to get very much irritated over this. They would, in turn, climb up the hill at 2 o¹clock in the morning and attempt to roll the freshmen off the hill. If they rolled the freshmen off, the freshmen of course could not display their class numbers there the next day. But, if the freshmen rolled the sophomores off the hill, the freshmen would be entitled to display their numbers.The interesting thing about this tradition is that the sophomores, always being the wise fools as signified by analysis of the derivation of the word sophomore, said, ³We¹re going to fix the freshmen.²
So they initiated a custom of tying up the freshmen the afternoon of the evening when freshmen were supposed to put their numbers up on the hill. The freshmen who were tied up were often placed under bridges and over the other side of fences and the like. A group of freshmen, the year that I am now telling about, were placed over the other side of a fence and then grass was strewn over their faces. But along came two sophomores chasing a freshman who dared to jump this fence not knowing of his two classmates concealed on the other side. And as he jumped the fence his foot came down on the mouth of one of his classmates. The resulting disfigurement appeared so horrible to the students that they decided to do away with this custom and have only one symbol on the top of the hill, namely the Big ³C². This symbol of California as a whole has done away with these class rushes because they might lay out or disfigure for a lifetime fellow classmates should they persist in it.
So it is that ³In Memory of the Rush² is the inscription on the Big ³C², dedicated on Charter Day, March 23, 1905. This wonderful symbol of California unity has reminded dozens upon dozens of college generations that University unity is necessary in bringing into being that fullest sense of what all true Californians know and love as California spirit.
After the Big ³C²s construction, its care was the responsibility of the Sophomore Class. At different times of the year, members of various classes would attempt to paint the ³C² with their own class color (Freshman Green, Sophomore Yellow, Junior Blue, and Senior White), and members of other universities would also attack the ³C². The Sophomores would guard the ³C² during those times, and if they failed in that task, they would quickly re-paint the Big ³C². (The tradition of the Freshman class attempting to paint the ³C² green is still maintained by the Cal Band).
Coats of paint were not the only changes the Big ³C² endured. In 1961, a group of Stanfurd engineering students, armed with a jack hammer, assaulted the Big ³C² in broad daylight and turned it into an S. Since the ³C² was just concrete, the Stanfurd students cut of the left hand side of the ³C², lifted it up, and placed it diagonally across the center of the ³C² from its upper-left to lower right.
Some changes have been much nicer. The ³road² up to the Big ³C² was constructed on February 29, 1916 by all of the male members of the Cal student body in three and a half hours, as part of Labor Day. The road was designed by student engineers that had made careful plans and surveys. The male students constructing the road used 2,000 picks and shovels that were donated by the Southern Pacific Railroad. The male students lined up along the proposed trail and started working at the sound of a bugle call. The original road included a small bridge that was put together like a ³jig-saw². When they finished, the men marched down the newly constructed trail and found the women of the student body waiting with a specially prepared luncheon. The remainder of the day was a celebration including a circus parade, circus-like festivities (which may have been a fore-runner to a now-extinct event that was called the Big ³C² Circus), and a dance in old Harmon Gym.
At some point in time, after 1952, the Rally Committee was made Custodians and Guardians of the Big ³C². Since then, the Committee has been in charge of painting the ³C², and protecting it from assault by other schools.
On February 29, 1976, led by Chairman Brad King, the Rally Committee performed much-needed repairs to the Big ³C². One of the special moments of the day was when they exposed the brass plaque that was part of the "C². The ³C² had been covered with so much paint for so long a time that the plaque had been forgotten. In fact, the University Archivist had thought that the original plaque had been removed from the ³C² and placed in the archives.
Brad King later died in a rafting accident, and a fund was set up in his honor to perform minor campus improvements. The first use of the fund was in the Summer of 1986 when extensive repairs and improvements were made to the Big ³C². Most of the Big ³C² was rebuilt, and drainage was added so that the ³C² would be less likely to slide down the hill from erosion. Wooden slabs were laid above and below the ³C² so that people who hiked up to the ³C² would have a stable place to sit.
It was also at this site that the city of Berkeley earned its name. As people were standing, looking out through the Golden Gate to the Pacific, someone recited ³Westward the course of empire takes its way.²* Another person inquired, ³Well, who was it first said that?² Someone else answered, ³Why, Bishop Berkeley, of course.² So, it was decided to name the city-to-be Berkeley.
*The quote is the last stanza of the poem ³Prospect of Planting Arts and Learning in America², written by George Berkeley, Bishop of Cloyne (1685-1753).
The official seating capacity of Memorial Stadium is set at 75,662, though because of temporary bleachers that used to stand behind the East side of the stadium, there have been 21 games where over 80,000 people attended. The latest change to Memorial occurred in 1995 when the astro-turf, which had been installed in 1981, was replaced with natural grass. Over the years, Memorial has been host to professional football games, graduations, concerts, and speeches (including one by President John F. Kennedy).
Memorial Stadium is named in memory of those who had dies in the First World War. It is also called ³The House that Andy Built² because the stadium was built was as a result of the success of the teams of Coach Andrew Latham Smith.
The Greek Theatre has been host to numerous commencements, concerts, speeches, and of course, rallies. Among the great figures that have spoken at the Greek are Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Madame Sarah Bernhardt. In more recent years, the Greek has been host to Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, Philippine President Corozon Aquino, and The Dalai Lama, the spiritual and temporal leader of Tibet.
In 1973, the University announced that, due to concerns about seismic, sanitation, and fire safety, it was going to tear down the log cabin and replace it with an extra dining room for the Faculty Club. Through the efforts of various campus groups and people, Senior Men¹s Hall was declared a historical landmark, and thus it was preserved.
For many years, the stone carvings of naked men and women that adorn the Gate were kept in storage. At the Gate¹s dedication, Jane Sather demanded that the carvings be removed because she considered them lewd. In 1977, the carvings were found in a storage room in Hearst Gymnasium. In 1983, after being cleaned and restored, the carvings were placed back on the Gate. However, in a twist, the women¹s carvings were placed on the city side of the Gate instead of the campus side.
Sather Tower was built with funds donated by Mrs. Jane K. Sather. The tower was completed in 1914 and the chimes were installed several years later, near the end of the First World War. In 1979, a extra set of chimes was installed allowing a much greater range of music to be played on the carillon on the tower¹s observation level. The carillon is played every weekday morning, lunchtime, and late-afternoon, except during finals. At Noon on the Friday before the start of finals, only one song is played on the carillon³They¹re Hanging Danny Deever in the Morning.² Following that, the carillon is silent until the end of finals.
Copyright 1996 Sean Patrick Rouse and Andrew Gross.
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