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The 32nd Annual Big Red Freakout is being held this weekend.  Thirty-two consecutive years of the same tradition with the same purpose is relatively rare at the 'Tute, so I had to find out how the event got started and what it was like the first time around.

I mentioned previously that we rely on donors to acquire new material for our collections.  In this post, I will highlight our latest acquisition. Recently Mr. Cox left this comment on the blog:

The annual Campus Carols holiday concert was a Rensselaer tradition for many years. The genesis of the event dates back to 1944 when it was called the "Christmas Candlelight Program." In early December, the RPI Glee Club led the campus community in the singing of Christmas carols at the RPI Clubhouse. In 1948, the event was renamed "Campus Carols" and moved to the '87 Gym.

1906 RPI football team The 2008 football team now has the distinction of playing the last intercollegiate game on the '86 Field.

When did the first students from China come to RPI?  This question was asked during our open house event recently.  A quick answer was readily available in an alumni directory, but my curiosity was piqued and I decided to dig a little deeper. Two students from Guangzhou (once referred to as Canton) arrived at RPI in the fall of 1878 and roomed together at a boarding house on Second St.  The students were Kwok S. Loh and Wing Chung Pawn. 

I was recently asked a question about RPI memorabilia so I thought I would share an example of what we have in our collection. We receive donations from alums, their families and other generous people.  We also regularly troll Ebay looking for RPI related material to add to our collections. (BTW, we NEVER sell anything on ebay!!) We've been able to acquire commencement programs, sports media guides, photographs and memorabilia. A fun item that we purchased this past year is the silver bracelet pictured below.

I have two different views of this prof for you to consider and therefore two photos that need to be filed in the right place. The computer in the first view may help place him in time. I was curious about the sign below the prof in the computer picture so I enlarged it and it reads: IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF YOU OBVIOUSLY ARE INCAPABLE OF USING THIS COMPUTER SO GET OFF IT! (OR LEARN TO LEAVE A CLEAN WORKSPACE BEHIND)

Finals week is coming to an end, and from my vantage point (limited as it may be), it has been very quiet on campus this week. It definitely feels like the semester is winding down. On the job, I often live in the past ;) and today I wondered how very different it must have been here 38 years ago this week in May.

This is a two-for-one special — ID this person and two unidentified photos find a home! The first photo brings back bad memories of organic chemistry. The 3D molecules that he's holding didn't help me at all. There are some more clues in the second photo. We see a chemistry lab nicely staged with students doing experiments, including a woman with hair and socks that look like trends of the late '80s — which coincidentally was the era when I dropped organic chemistry. :) Who is this prof who kindly shows us what he looks like with and without glasses?