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A
THOUSAND warriors, with
unsheathed weapons glistening in the warm rays of a
spring still had assembled. Their leaders, most
noticeably Dr. Bessey, exhorted them to be brave
and unwavering in the coming struggle, and to slay
without mercy the host of the enemy. Then the bugle
sounded, and, as the Cadet band played a furious
charge, four regiments, Senior, junior, Sophomore,
and Freshmen, a thousand of Nebraska's picked men
and women, hurled themselves against the foremost
line of the yellow millions. Fiercer and farther
grew the conflict until glistening bayonets, keen
knives, and bright daggers flashed in the warm
sunlight at every corner of the Campus. On and on
went the irresistible thousand, and not one paused
for time or breath. In an hour three millions of
the enemy lay dying on the Campus.
The destruction had been
complete. The bugle sounded
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a second time, and the weary warriors returned
to camp. Ice cream cones were their reward; tired
bodies, blistered hands, and sore fingers were mere
incidents; the inward consciousness of something
done was their greatest satisfaction. Only a few
had deemed themselves unfit for toil, and with
sneering ignorance passed among those who worked.
But these were the "aristoquacks" whom good men and
women neither fear or notice.
Big awkward Freshman and dainty
sorority girl toiled side by side in the
exterminating of the "Yellow Peril." Those who had
never met before that day became lasting friends.
False pride had been left at home. For once at
least a feeling of commonality pervaded the
University. With perfect harmony all labored as
with one mind toward beautifying the Campus.
Dandelion Day had come and gone.
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PERHAPS
none of the experiences of a student's career can
be logically compared with his enjoyment of
Commen-cement. Commencement is a period, -- a
condition, not a day. Commencement begins about the
middle of the final exam week, and lasts until the
Senior Play, the Pan Hel, the Reception, and the
Parade are over. It consists of hurrying to the
train to meet "the folks," of blushing
acknowledgment of congratulations, of flowers, of
strolls, of handshaking, and heart-quaking, of the
exchange of greetings between the old grads and the
new, of presents given and gifts received, of a
thousand little experiences indistinguishable in
themselves, but all part of the happy scheme of the
thing.
Then when all these things are
over -- when the "folks" have gotten their tickets
for the exercises at the Auditorium; when the
"Girl" has been introduced to the "folks," or the
"Girl from Home" properly welcomed in a secluded
corner, then comes COMMENCEMENT DAY. Seniors
assemble between the Library and the Auditorium,
where the Commencement Parade is formed, and the
march to the
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Auditorium taken up, headed by the Chancellor,
the Regents and the Deans of the Colleges. How
imposing and dignified they look in their regally
striped and barred robes, marks of their academic
honors. First comes the Chancellor, with his
pleasant smile, and his calm, fatherly eye; then
Dean Bessey radiant under his halo of white hair;
then Dean Sherman, small of stature but great of
learning; afterwards Dean Davis, shuffling along,
now and then taking a pull at his short brown
beard: following him, Dean Stout with his square
cap set far down the bridge of his nose, and his
keen eyes roving from side to side, bowing to
friends as he passes; then Dean Hastings, tall and
slender, his soft black hat for the time discarded,
and his whiskers neatly trimmed; and finally Dean
Walcott with Dean Fordyce, each bearing his
dignities with apparent ease, and chatting in the
most unconcerned manner. Then the long, black,
double line of Seniors, capped and gowned, and the
procession has passed, and, save for "The Address"
and the receiving of diplomas, Commencement is
over.
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WITH
a whoop that startled the mummy reposing in the
Museum, from his centuries sleep, eight hundred
nighties, which until then had never been so
shockingly exposed, started on their zig-zag,
rolicking, laughing, yelling march through the city
streets. It was the night of the shirt-tail parade;
that annual orgy which always takes place the
evening after "Compet"; and the cadets were out in
force to wake the city to the fact that it has a
college in its midst.
