Hopkins looks back at its legacy

Students and faculty celebrated the University's founding yesterday with a piece of cake and a slice of history.

The Hopkins Commemoration Day party in the Glass Pavilion not only celebrated the 132nd anniversary of the University, but it also sought to reconnect current students with the school's past.

"It is easy to feel like Hopkins sprung into existence five minutes ago," Adam Falk, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences, said. Falk and other University officials were cutting and serving cakes decorated with the Hopkins seal.

"I think this is a nice community event. It connects people to Hopkins's history," he said.

All around the Glass Pavilion there were tables displaying photographs from the University's past: an English class meeting in McCoy Hall, commencement on the steps of Gilman and a student polishing up a paper on his Smith-Corona.

Black and blue signs on the tabletops told the University's history in trivia. Hopkins and Yale, evidently, played the first intercollegiate hockey game in a rink on North Avenue in 1896.

Shortly after 1 p.m., a popping record of the "Hopkins Ode" began to play.

"We connect to history through song," said John Bader, associate dean for academic programs and advising.

"I thought, why don't we teach these songs?" he said. "It started with my concern students at Hopkins don't understand the feeling of this place. People have been coming here for a long time."

Up until the 1960s, students sang the ode as an unofficial alma mater, but then it died away, Bader explained. Written shortly after the University's founding, the definitive recording of the "Johns Hopkins Ode: Veritas Vos Liberabit" was produced in the 1950s by a group of male singers.

"College songs are fundamentally silly. They make people feel young and joyful, and that is a good thing," Bader said.

During the afternoon, students trickled in to the Glass Pavilion, keeping administrators steadily serving cake.

When asked about his reason for coming, junior Brian Youchak said, "The free cake and mugs, and general curiosity." Youchak was unaware of the Student Council's attempts to bring hip-hop artist Ludacris to campus as part of a greater celebration.

"I would have liked to have seen that. I would have wanted it well planned though," he said. Freshman Jasmine Harpe echoed Youchak's sentiment. "That would have been awesome," she said. Harpe and freshman Danielle Beharie said they both came to be more familiar with the University's past, since they were both first-year students.

Chloe Rothstein, an admissions officer, also attended so as to better understand Hopkins. "This is my first year working on this campus. I wanted to see what this was all about," she said.

"History is important. Tradition is important," Mark Butt, an admissions officer, said. "And it is fun to see students I may have admitted."

The festivities began to wind down at 1:45, though there was still cake and T-shirts to be distributed. And the ode played on.

"We're always looking for more ways to reconnect students with the school's past," Falk said.

On Feb. 6, members of the Student Council informed Susan Boswell, dean of student life, of plans to book Ludacris for a Founders Day concert. Two days later, Boswell replied that she and some other administrators would deny their funding. She cited inadequate time to plan "a concert of this magnitude."