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- The Lighter Side…
Carleton students are among the brightest, most talented young people in the nation. They work hard and take issues seriously, but they also know how to have fun. The following is just a sampling of some of Carleton’s quirky traditions and happenings over its 134-year history.
The Bust of Schiller. The Carleton mania for occasional appearances of Schiller at campus events like commencement goes back to the 1950s when the bust of the German poet Friedrich von Schiller was "liberated" from then-President Larry Gould’s office. Schiller is kept by an anonymous group of students, and to say he is simply displayed from time to time would be an understatement. Schiller has arrived on horseback, been suspended from a helicopter, and carried high above the heads of students running across the stage clad from head to toe in ninja outfits. He has been shattered several times, glued back together at least twice, and replaced with a new replica on occasion, most notably in 1995 during the "Great Schiller Exchange," which took place between President Stephen R. Lewis, Jr. and a collection of masked individuals on a bridge in Carleton’s arboretum. The escapade included secret messages, frogmen, and a final hand-off to two masked students who came downstream in a canoe, picked up the new bust of Schiller, and were last seen headed down the Cannon River. Lewis last year was spirited away to a local airport, where Schiller arrived by single-engine plane as Lewis took an oath to the bust and signed a pledge to participate in the Schiller appearance during commencement week 1999. He did so at the senior convocation, complete with his very own ninja outfit.
Halloween Concert. At midnight each Halloween night, over 600 students pack the Chapel to listen to the eerie strains of music such as Berlioz’s "The Witches’ Sabbath" and "The Imperial Death March" from "Star Wars," performed by the costumed Carleton orchestra and its director, Hector Valdivia, who as a mad scientist has been known to toss severed body parts into the audience. The highlight of the program is the much-ballyhooed appearance of President Lewis, who arrives to wrest the baton from Valdivia and conduct the orchestra in its final number. In years past, Lewis has sauntered in as the Lone Ranger to the strains of the "William Tell Overture," stormed in shouting "Freedom!" as William Wallace, the Scottish clansman of "Braveheart," bounded on stage as Chewbacca, the gorilla-like warrior from "Star Wars," driven a Harley down the aisle as Johnny from the Marlon Brando classic "The Wild One," and swaggered in as Minnesota’s own flamboyant governor, Jesse Ventura.
Tofu Fest. Carleton students have taken it upon themselves to celebrate the wonders of an oft-maligned food with the Tofu Fest, held each year in May. Roughly 150 pounds of the soybean curd are donated by area food companies, and are used in activities such as a tofu eating contest, a tofu toss, in which contestants stand five feet apart and fling a hunk of the slippery stuff to their partner in hopes they will successfully catch it, and a Mr. Tofu Head decorating contest. The event culminates in a tofu cooking contest and sampling of different culinary treats prepared with tofu.
Barber Badminton Bonanza. This year marked the third annual Barber Badminton Bonanza, which began when two students challenged each other to a badminton game, with the winner getting to shave the loser’s head. That challenge escalated into a full-scale tournament, which consists of eight matches played consecutively. The winner of each match advances and is given 10 minutes to cut the hair of their unlucky opponent. After two grueling hours of flying birdies and buzzing electric shavers, an overall champion is crowned with a full head of hair. All haircuts must not be altered for at least one week after the tournament. This year’s Bonanza was also a benefit—by taking pledges for the amount of hair collected and auctioning off the right to shave the head of the event organizers, $4,000 was raised for a local woman with cancer.
The Metric Bowl. In the fall of 1977, Carleton hosted the first and only NCAA-sanctioned metric football game. The game was the brainchild of chemistry professor Jerry Mohrig, who was teaching a course in the metric system and was intrigued by the idea of measuring a game like football, which is so conscious of distance, in meters. Crosstown rival St. Olaf College, at that time in a different athletic conference, agreed to participate in the non-conference game. The field, extended to measure 100 meters long by 53 meters wide, was marked off in 10-meter lines. All statistics were kept metrically, and the players’ weight and height was listed in kilograms and centimeters in the game program. Even some female students took part as "cheerliters," wearing tee-shirts declaring "Drop back 10 meters and punt." Ten thousand fans (about 8,000 more than for a regular game) filled the stadium to see the Oles thrash the Knights, 42-0. The event garnered national media attention.
The Goat Trophy. The Carleton men’s basketball team and its crosstown rival, St. Olaf College, have been engaged in a good-natured rivalry for 90 years. The teams compete twice each season for the much-prized honor of possession of the Goat Trophy, a rather rag-tag structure made from a 2-by-4 with legs transplanted from a chair, a wooden neck and head, and ears, horns and a beard fashioned from a broom. It is decorated with a cloth saddle printed with Carleton on one side and St. Olaf on the other. To claim the Goat, one team must win both games of the season series; it has been locked in a Carleton trophy case for the last 10 seasons. The rivalry has had its share of good-natured pranks, as well. One year, several Oles hid inside Carleton’s gym and made off with the Knights’ varsity uniforms the night before the big game. They demanded the bust of Schiller (see above description) be given as ransom for the uniforms. The Knights were unable to locate Schiller, but presented the Oles with an empty box, claiming Schiller was inside. The Oles fell for it, but the uniforms were locked in an attic, and were only retrieved 15 minutes prior to game time. On another occasion, a player who was known as a show-off was showered with hotdogs when he was introduced, causing a delay in game while the surface of the court was cleaned. Regardless of the teams’ records or levels of talent, students on both campuses, as well as the residents of Northfield, know that only two games really matter each year.
Rotblatt. This tradition calls for a marathon softball game equal in length to the age of Carleton, so this spring students played 134 innings, one each for every year since 1866. The game evolved from an intramural league begun in 1964 by a group of sophomores, who, for no good reason, named it for Marvin J. Rotblatt, whose rather pathetic career as a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox included only four wins in 35 appearances spread over the 1948, ’50 and ’51 seasons. At the plate, he reached his high point when he drew a walk. Otherwise, he was 0-for-15. In the early days of the tradition, Rotblatt the man actually traveled to Northfield to witness the game.
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