By: V Solar-Miller
Thousands of stories are housed in the University’s Archives and Special Collections, a department within Collins Memorial Library. The origins of amusing traditions, surprising truths and hidden histories emerge from the digitized pages of The Trail dating back to its inception in 1895 as Ye Recorde. From the second floor of the library, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian Olivia Inglin shared about preserving histories and highlighting stories lost to the cycles of campus memory.
Student traditions have come and gone over the years. Hiding the hatchet, hazing first-years with green beanies and the homecoming tricycle race between Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University are all community events that brought the University together for over 70 years, though none have survived to today.
One article from 1974 shines a light on the origins of one of the University’s beloved traditions that was seemingly absent last semester: the naked run. Detailed in The Trail article, “Students on the Streak at UPS,” three students wearing white sneakers and bright scarves that obscured their faces covered a record-setting 502 yards of ground on campus. A reporter in a follow-up article titled “Streaking seeks its wayward path home to Puget Sound” unwittingly wrote, “streaking may be destined to be one of the shorter lived fads.” Little did that reporter know, the naked run at Puget Sound would still be around almost 50 years later. A form of expression, a protest, a way to blow off steam – whatever the reason may be – Puget Sound students like being in the nude so much that they have continued to slather paint over their bodies and run through campus buildings since the inaugural event in the 70s. Runners shared an experience that would live on in their memories, and bystanders had something to giggle and gossip about. Sadly, the naked run wasn’t organized last semester, and the class of ‘28 missed out on this tradition. Only time will tell if the naked run will permanently join the host of other lost student traditions.
Some traditions, however, are better left behind. Deep in The Trail’s archives, articles detail Puget Sound’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) fraternity participating in a “Hate Women Week.” It was the 1950s, a few decades before the women’s liberation movement in the West, and pledges were obligated to participate in this activity, which was sponsored by the national fraternity. After a week of holding up signs expressing their hatred for the “fairer sex,” a dance party was thrown to announce that, actually, SAE did not in fact hate women. Though Hate Women Week was not a school sponsored event, the Puget Sound administration did institutionally uphold gender norms and inequality in their own ways.
In 1964, students moving into the women’s dormitory were provided a ‘Welcome to the Dorms’ pamphlet. The pamphlet outlined strict dress codes and rules; women were told to wear skirts and blouses to class in the winter, and cotton dresses in the spring and early fall. It also dictated what garb was considered inappropriate. “Bermuda shorts, jeans and peddle pushers and ‘grubbies’ may be worn for picnics and for Saturday clearing, but may not be worn to classes, the library or Student Center,” the pamphlet read. Uniforms are nothing new to college campuses worldwide, but the misogyny is blatant in the ‘Guests’ section of this supposed “welcome.” The pamphlet strongly discourages women from bringing male visitors, particularly at specific hours of the day, lest residents “be caught in their pin curls and pajamas.” These rules and expectations were enforced to oppress women on campus, a far cry from the situationships and fashion culture of free expression you can see on campus today.
Though Puget Sound might not be the most prestigious school, our history is full of remarkable people enacting real, influential change. One such case happened in 1997, when two people came together to host the Tacoma Pride Festival, the first to be held in the city in 12 years. Steve Gillis-Moore (‘97), and James Spencer, at the time a recent Evergreen State College graduate, met at a Pierce County AIDS Foundation annual walk for AIDS. They secured funding from the Imperial Court of Tacoma, an LGBTQ+ non-profit, and collaborated with the campus clubs United Methodists and Understanding Sexuality to organize a Pride celebration. A large crowd gathered in July 1997 at the track near the fieldhouse to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, and a queer dance party was later thrown on campus in the rotunda. In the following years, Understanding Sexuality turned into the Queer Alliance, and every July, tens of thousands of people meet in Downtown Tacoma to celebrate Tacoma Pride.
Some truths laying in the pages of Puget Sound’s history are not as easy to face as public nudity. This institution has been around for over 100 years, and has changed along with the times. Science, Technology, Health and Society Professor Kristin Johnson reminds us that “history makes you depressed, hopeful and humble, sometimes all at the same time.” We can’t leave history behind. Nor can we can’t ignore it or excuse it. We have to take it with us in the form of important lessons. Current issues, found in your backyard or across the globe, are becoming too serious to ignore. Learning about history can help you interpret the events you’re living through, and it gives you the context to make informed and empathic decisions.
This community is very fortunate to have open access to its institution’s history. Anyone can show up to Collins Library and ask the archivists for assistance; Inglin reminds us that our archivists “are here to help and support students,” and if they want to learn more about personal, local or national history, “we’d love to help them do research.” Gillis-Moore and Spencer’s story demonstrates the reward of putting in the work. If you want to see change in this community, administration or curriculum, you have to be the one brave enough to care. Cherished University events like Queer Prom, KUPS Fest and the naked run could not exist without the time and effort of fellow students. Many traditions over the years have come and gone, and they have fostered community and created lasting memories. With the loss of every amazing community event, our ability to come together as a collective falters as well. In order to not let our most-beloved traditions slip away, think about how we can continue to honor tradition, learn from our past and mobilize for our future.