University of Mary Washington Then & Now

A Photography Exhibition

Posts in the tradition category

Contests

According to University of Mary Washington: A Centennial History, 1908–2008, “Among the new campus activities that appeared during the 1970s, the most extraordinary (and inexplicable) was something called the Wo-Man Contest.  The event was conceived in the fall of 1977 by the Afro-American Association, whose only male member, freshman Cedric Rucker, took the lead in the contest’s development and promotion.” 1  The event was immediately popular, and the popularity of the Wo-Man contest continued into the early 1990s, but was eventually phased out; however, in October 1999, the Mr. MWC contest appeared.  “Though Mr. MWC obviously shared certain farcical elements with the late Wo-Man contest, according to the Free Lance-Star it was ‘nothing like the controversial’ predecessor. ‘The new, feel-good Mr. MWC contest,’ it asserted, ‘is far kinder and gentler than Wo-Man.” 2

Today, the Mr. MWC tradition continues, simply under a different name: Mr. UMW.

Mr UMW

Mr. UMW Contest, 2013
Contestants include: Mr. Alvey: Tyler Gimple; Mr. Apartments: Rob Jarvis; Mr. Arrington: John Rowley; Mr. Bushnell: Frank Kear; Mr. Custis: Drew Kalasky; Mr. Eagle Landing: Ethan Lane; Mr. Framar: Sam Relken; Mr. Jefferson: Brandon Smith; Mr. Mason: Kyle Phalen; Mr. Marshall: Nathan Bradley; Mr. Randolph: Ben Cunningham; Mr. Russell: Josh Mwandu
Alyssa Lieurance, "Mr. UMW," November 4, 2013, Personal Collection of Alyssa Lieurance, University of Mary Washington.

Show 2 footnotes

  1. William B. Crawley, Jr., University of Mary Washington: A Centennial History, 1908-2008 (Fredericksburg: University of Mary Washington Foundation, 2008), 252. ↩
  2. Ibid., 721. ↩

Devil Goat Day

Devil Goat Day is UMW’s oldest tradition that still occurs today. Devil-Goat Day began in 1926 when Eileen Kramer Dodd joined the faculty and became the sponsor of the junior class.1 She and the junior class “decided to have a goat as [their] symbol.”2 One morning, all of the juniors and Dodd “appeared in the dining hall wearing white skirts and white sweatshirts decorated with a felt green goat.”3 This sparked the seniors to pick “a distinctive symbol, and they adopted a red devil as an emblem. So began the Devil-Goat rivalry.”4  Alternating classes were designated as either Devils or Goats, as events creating competition between Senior and Sophomores, and Juniors and Freshman occurred annually, which developed into Devil-Goat Day.5 However, in the 1990s students were becoming indifferent to the school’s traditions.6 In 1992, “sponsorship of the event was taken over by the freshman class officers, who tried to rejuvenate it” by adding music and more daring activities such as a climbing wall, a velcro wall, jousting and human bungees.7

The freshman must have succeeded in rejuvenating Devil-Goat Day, because the event still occurs today in 2014, and is still planned by the freshman class officers on Class Council. The tradition of having freshman and juniors versus sophomores and seniors continues as well as having the odd numbered graduation classes as Devils and even numbered graduation classes as Goats. Currently, at freshman orientation, Dean Rucker always announces to the new class of students whether they are Devils or Goats. (Dean Rucker himself is a Devil.) Devil-Goat Day continues to take place on Ball Circle, and has had a great turn out within the last few years. One newer tradition that is a part of Devil-Goat Day is trying to collect the free Devil or Goat t-shirts handed out by Class Council every year. Students will line up sometimes an hour or more before in order to make sure they can get one out of the limited supply of t-shirts. This year, in 2014, the t-shirts were handed out by Lee Hall and the Devil t-shirt line extended down campus walk towards Trinkle Hall, while the Goat t-shirt line extended down past Virginia Hall.

President Hurley on Devil Goat Day, April 25, 2013

President Hurley on Devil Goat Day, April 25, 2013
Elizabeth Henry, "President Hurley on Devil Goat Day," April 25, 2013, Personal Collection of Elizabeth Henry, University of Mary Washington.

Show 7 footnotes

  1. William B. Crawley Jr., University of Mary Washington: A Centennial History, 1908-2008 (Fredericksburg: University of Mary Washington Foundation, 2008), 26. ↩
  2. Ibid. ↩
  3. Ibid. ↩
  4. Ibid. ↩
  5. Ibid., 27. ↩
  6. Ibid., 719. ↩
  7. Ibid. ↩
css.php