History

Historians like to spew out catchphrases in everyday conversation and intense debates as much as football players like to score touchdowns. One such catchphrase that maintains its popularity today is. “If you don’t study history you’re doomed to repeat it”, time and time again this theory has been proven true, many times in the story lines of our very own lives. One such story is the tale of Stimson Hall

Nowhere in this day and age can the same combination history, pride, and tradition be found on the campus of Washington State University. The story of Stimson contains many elements necessary in a Shakespearian Drama. Tales of Pride, conflict and rebirth are common in the Stimson story line. Since the very first day Stimson Men have played an active part in the everyday life of WSU. The hall actually started its legacy with an abundance of leaders, a blessing and a curse that haunts the hall to this day. Yet the story of Stimson shows how history and tradition can be changed, lost, ignored and then forgotten altogether.
The Hall’s history can be divided into three parts: the birth/rise, the fall and the re-birth. There is no doubt the Stimson Hall of today operates under a different set of guidelines than that of the hall in the early twentieth century. However, there is also tremendous evidence of the past directly influencing the life of Stimson Men today. The hall has gone from greatness to a slum like state and back in just eighty years, all starting in 1922.

In the beginning the halls basic day to day life was ran by a lady named Ellen Bakke. Ellen Bakke was placed in Stimson as a Hall Mother. The position is very similar to that of today’s Hall Director position. Very little is known of what was done in the first two years due to the fact that no student government was in place and no records were kept. What can be assumed is Ellen Bakke had her hands full. Even today the challenge of running a hall without student help is almost unthinkable.

Without an organization for students to take responsibility for themselves such as a student government, Ellen had to deal with every minute detail. As you can imagine two hundred plus men can put quite a strain on one woman thus in 1924, two organizations were created to help Ellen govern the hall.

The House Council (Montezuma), and Senate were created to handle different objectives in the continuing operations of the hall. Each of these entities had their own constitution and direct responsibilities. The two branch system was meant to be directed by the hall mother. Ellen Bakke acted as an executive with power over either branch of the government. Any separation of power issues that came up were simply referred to the hall mother. However a larger document stating the divisions of power was left out of Stimson’s foundation and would carry repercussions to today.

House Council was created to serve as the disciplinary branch dealing with setting and enforcing rules. This organization was called the House Council yet many times also went by the name Montezuma. Montezuma was actually considered to be a club in which every resident of Stimson belonged to and the House was its governing body. Anyone could attend a House meeting and the Council. The very first House Council meeting took place on September 22nd 1924 at 7:30PM. At this meeting the Montezuma constitution was passed and a man by the name of Wes Ohlson was elected to be Stimson Hall’s first president. Dues were also tackled in the first House Council meeting. Every member would pay a total of ten cents to the Montezuma pot. Later on this amount would continue to go up as spending did as well. This system of a hall collecting its own funds allowed the hall a certain amount of freedom, lost today.

Senate was also formed that same week. The Senate’s main goal was to help Ellen Bakke with the programming and to build up the morale of the Hall. The Senate was composed entirely of upper classmen who had a certain love of the hall and only wished to help improve the hall altogether. The early Senate actually took a fraternity-like image and stuck together like glue. This event is a common occurrence in any men’s hall and is a continuing misconception as the halls staff and government today are often considered exclusionary and Greek-like.

The senators took on the hall’s homecoming and intramural competitions and immediately put Stimson at the forefront of campus events. The Senate even helped to find a donor to start the Stimson Hall Library. Dean Carl Morrow donated three hundred and fifty books in the early years of the hall to start the library that still exists today with many of the original books.

The two groups quickly busied themselves in the first years laying the foundation for a great hall. With every great group in history there must be traditions to hold itself together and both entities knew this. On September 24th just two days after the first House meeting, Council presented its President with a gavel crafted in Hawaii to add an aura of prestige to their meetings. On December 24th the official colors of blue and silver were selected for the hall. The Senate also selected its symbol, a knot with three loops symbolizing the three virtues of Senate. Today no one really knows the meaning behind the symbol itself, only that it’s the Senate emblem.

One of the greatest and most lasting traditions, dunking, started at this time and revolved around an icon of Stimson, the fountain Minerva. The hall was designed with a courtyard in the middle that at times has contained a basketball court, a volleyball court, an ice skating rink and a fountain. This fountain was built in 1928 with funds from both Washington State University and the Senate. The original centerpiece for this pond was a cone of jagged rocks that many disliked. It was in 1931 that a statue of a young maiden holding a fish was placed in the Stimson Pond and would come to be called Minerva. Even today Minerva stands as a pride of the hall. Many fish, as well as humans, have swam in the waters of the maiden.

Dunking people in the fountain has been a fun excursion since 1931. At first, almost any reason was a good enough reason to dunk someone. If you were a freshman, and you received an A on a major exam or even if you slept in, an upperclassman might simply drag you out and throw you into Minerva. Yet the tradition of dunking extended to people outside of the hall as well, especially women, which would have certain ramifications later. During the 1940’s Stimson Men created a tradition of dunking as many women as they could on the Eighth of May. The entire campus would shiver at the sound of men screaming “hooray hooray for the eight of May”. Men would actually grab women off of the mall and carry them down to the fountain to dunk them. It’s rumored that over one hundred and eighty women were dunked in one Eighth of May event. In response to this growing pest the University passed Legislation to have Minerva drained every Eighth of May. Although the hall isn’t sure when this tradition started and if the laws are still in effect, in the last three years every 8th of May the men have woken up to find their fountain drained yet again. Today the act of dunking is not out in the open and is actually reserved for important events, such as engagements and graduation. These scenarios usually result in “bonding” time.

The “brotherhood” of Stimson only seemed to grow in leaps and bounds as Stimson took a dominating role in intramural sports. The hall’s influence on campus could be felt everywhere as sister halls and sororities aligned themselves with Stimson for homecoming year after year. The hall was riding high thanks to the foundations set by the Council and the Senate. Everything went well until 1942 when World War Two began. With the masses of young men signing up to fight Germany and Japan the numbers needed to fill Stimson were simply not there. The hall was then changed into a women’s hall. Ellen Bakke, who had been the house mother this entire time retired as she saw the men she looked after go to war.

This was the end of the first segment in Stimson History. The foundation for the hall had been laid and traditions set. When the women took over Stimson, records of the hall’s functions were non exstistant, the only bragging point the women of Stimson seemed to like to document was that they planted flowers in the urinals. In 1947, however, the flowers had to be cleaned out as Stimson became a men’s hall again. 1,5
There are two instances in the story of Stimson where the Government and operations of the hall were disrupted and taken out of Stimson. In each instance the reforming of the halls infrastructure resulted in a major change in the division of power and roles of every resident. This gap from 1942-1947 is one of those instances. In 1947 many Stimson men found themselves with a set of new circumstances. This re-birth set many new precedents for the future that had ramifications for years to come. To start the hall anew many relied on old records to find out what the infrastructure of the hall was. To top it all off the hall had a new house mother, Ms. Brown.

One of the biggest changes the hall had to deal with was the creation of a new group of leaders called the student sponsors or just sponsors. The group was created right off the bat in 1947 by Ms. Brown to provide assistance in the housing assignments and one on one counseling. With many veterans coming back to college thanks to the GI Bill, housing assignments became more of a problem as the hall filled to its maximum capacity. The sponsors dealt with where everyone was placed and then each maintained a section throughout the year. They were given full room and board and were elected by the entire hall. This set up of student authority figures was one of the first on campus, before RA’s, REA’s and Hall Directors. Today the Sponsor group still exists and works under the residence life umbrella with RA’s. The Sponsor group is one of the oldest established entities on campus.

While the creation of this new group sounded fine the roles and responsibilities of the Sponsors started to invade on the Senate’s responsibilities. The Senate had always been upperclassmen who helped in the counseling and general operation of the hall. The Sponsor group actually took over a large part of their responsibilities and left the Senate without a direction. The main energy of Senate was immediately put into programming but the soul of the fraternity like Senate seemed lost. The Council seemed to rebuild itself right away and continue on its course with an entirely new set of problems to face in the coming years.
Immediately, a new set of traditions were founded in 1947. In an election bet lost, Stimson Hall ended up serenading the South Hall women as payment. Although nowhere can it be found that this was the first serenade it is the first one in Stimson record. Serenading today is a very standardized tradition that may very well have started that November 4th 1947.

The men of Stimson also decided that the hall should also be known for parties and dancing. Stimson would play host to many of the major dances on campus. On December 10th 1947 a winter land-themed formal dance was held in the Stimson lobby. The Winterland dance was the first of its kind held on campus since the start of World War Two. The attendance was great. Two dollars was charged as admission and the dance went off without a hitch. Later that year the Stimson Band was formed for social events such as tea and coffee while a tradition of stealing silverware from dinning centers went into full swing. The hall was back with a vengeance.

The governing bodies seemed to go on without any major problems, although with the loss of direction, the Senate began a long spiral down. With each year the group became more dormant and found themselves without leadership in many instances. Around 1952 the Hall Mother system was replaced with the Residence Life system and a “Head Resident” was placed in the hall as the facilitator of the hall. With this changeover, Sponsors eventually lost their full room and board as Residence Life cut funding.

In 1952 the hall had a very active year. Three fireside chats or tea engagements were held every month with attendance ranging from ten to nearly two thirds of the hall. The Intramural trophy for volleyball was captured while a strong showing in basketball was made with over one third of the hall participating. However the Head Resident described the Senate as “lazy” and the responsibilities seemed to be overlapping. The Sponsors out of disgust actually started to take on the job of running programs as well as their previous responsibilities.

At this time perhaps the biggest debate to hit the hall was whether or not a television should be bought for the hall. The great TV Debate of 53 argued that a television would only take away from the study atmosphere the hall was trying to provide. On the other side many though it would provide a great way to relax. The eventual result was that a 21 inch Magnavox was bought for the hall. The decision can be looked upon as a canary in a mine situation. It was around this time that the hall started to turn from an academic focus to a social one.

With the weakening of the Senate many lost interest in upholding the traditions and history of the hall. Pride seemed to be lost as the call to party outweighed that of school and hall. By 1956 the Senate’s focus turned to planning dances and parties that revolved primarily around womanizing and drinking. This new drive resulted in two new traditions that the hall partook in. The Bowery Brawl and The Stomp were both “raunch” dances with a heavy emphasis on drinking. Each dance took place in a barn or covered area off campus. Many times the residents rode in horse drawn carts to get to the dances. In 1956 Stimson Hall became on of the few residence halls to ever be put on probation by the ASWSU for actions taken in two specific events. One event was the Bowery Brawl, a raunch dance that apparently got out of hand with the alcohol. The other event was a water fight in the hall that spread to Stadium Way and other surrounding buildings.

Through the next few years the morale of the hall plummeted. The sponsors and Council were left to fill the gap Senate was leaving. Yet, in 1956 a power struggle blew up as the balance of responsibilities between the Senate, House, and Sponsors became blurred. The hall simply had too many leaders. In 1956, a clique of sorts developed in the House and caused a major stir as these friends tried to get themselves elected into each position and run the Government. The sponsors stepped in and somehow defused the rising tensions between the clique and those not in the group. The end result was only one member being elected and overall weakening of the house. Almost immediately the Senate seemed to regain its composure and regroup to become the forefront leaders of the hall.

Even this was a short lived event as Stimson Hall fell into a horrible cycle. The hall seemed to revolve around the major dances of the year, the Stomp and Brawl. The sponsors ended up taking on programming and discipline as well as their housing responsibilities.

Eventually the House regained its composure and expanded to allow the women of Neil Hall into Montezuma, in 1965. House Council became the main representation of Stimson on campus, as issues like RHA and the eventual renovation of the hall came up. In 1965 the idea of closing down the hall in 1969 was first presented and strongly opposed by the Council. Also in 1968 the uselessness of RHA was discussed openly in a house meeting. It seemed that the House was now the definite leader while the Senate became a group of separatist and was eventually disbanded by the Hall Director in 1969 as the purpose of the group was lost.

With the power struggle between the Senate and House over, Stimson men began to plan their 50th anniversary. This occasion was weighted more heavily than many realize. It was already common knowledge that the hall was to be shut down in the coming years yet the exact date was not set. Many believed that Stimson's days as a dorm were numbered as many plans to demolish or renovate the hall into a science library circulated. The 50th anniversary acted as a rally call for many Stimson alumni and current residents. Many pleas were made in the hall’s favor. The protest continued for the next few years and life in Stimson continued. Eventually so much trouble was stirred on the issue that when the hall was closed down in 1983 the decision had yet to be made on what was to happen.

Some residents even wrote to David Letterman to ask for his help in saving the hall. Dave was more than happy to place a “Save Stimson” sign up before each of his shows to provide support for the old hall. By 1985 the decision was final and the hall was stripped to be renovated and returned to a dorm status. In the mean time the Stimson Government transferred to Rogers Hall to be returned to the walls of Stimson in 1987.

This time period of 1983-87 is the second time when Stimson men faced a disruption in their government. Many who returned to the hall decided to reform the government and roles of a Stimson man. The Hall had faced a time period where pride had been lost and the history had been forgotten. The new segment in Stimson History had to be different.

The hall had deteriorated in prestige since the late fifties and became one of the worst places to live on campus in the seventies. The atmosphere was that of drunken carelessness and total lack of pride. The returning residents decided that a new culture of Stimson had to be created. Stimson should continue to work off of the foundations of the past but new bricks would be laid. The House Council would stay and in fact be the main force of the hall but a new group would be created called the Senate whose goals were programming and would actually be a branch of the House. The name Montezuma, which had always been blurred with the House and hall population, would now be a second branch of the Government whose main focus was the uses of government funds.

The Student Sponsors were now just called Sponsors and attained an independence from the government. Sponsors now chose their replacements and actually were responsible for the morale and counseling aspect of running the hall. No longer were drunken dances a part of Stimson tradition but rather a focus grew on academics and creating a safe environment for residents. The changes worked quite well and Stimson stands today as a very active hall both in campus issues and in internal issues.

This new arrangement gives Stimson a feeling and atmosphere very different from any other hall on campus. The government operates in a discussion/joking manner that many governments, including RHA seem to dislike. Yet this style fits the building quite well. The sponsors attend to the slightest detail in their sections and maintain independence from the Government yet both sides cooperate quite well. The hall has a sense of brotherhood that is often compared to a boys club. The Stimson of today stands proud of its tradition. Many try to rebuild off of the past. Stimson is still known for dances such as the Green M&M dance held in welcoming week every year. The traditions of dunking are still hidden there and the basic make up of the government and staff is still going strong. The feel of honor runs through the veins of every acting member of Stimson.

Today’s Stimsonites find themselves looking into tradition asking questions like where the famous yellow and blue shirts came from? What does the Senate symbol mean? Many aren’t answered in this paper. Stimson refused to keep track of its own history for the last decade. The result is a loss of understanding of our traditions. This new generation is out to change that. The very same generation who won Homecoming in 2001 and contended for hall of the year last year and in reality should have won seems to bask in the prestige of their home. The Hall today is called home by many campus leaders such as senators, journalist and many others living in side the walls. The traditions so bred into the hall continue to grow and adapt to today’s world. The drama of the Stimson Play is far from over.