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The Yale Alumni Magazine is owned and operated by Yale Alumni Publications, Inc., a nonprofit corporation independent of Yale University. The content of the magazine and its website is the responsibility of the editors and does not necessarily reflect the views of Yale or its officers. |
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The Elizabethan
Club recently celebrated the 425th anniversary of the coronation
of the good Queen Bess. As the toaster of the Queen's health (Robin
Winks, Lord of Berkeley) implied, the coincidence of the feast with
the Super Bowl indicated a remarkable self-confidence on the part
of the Lizzie. The almost 300 Elizabethans who turned off their
sets and marched off to the Silliman dining hall were richly rewarded.
The vision of the English professor Marie
Borroff, attired as the Queen, was enough in itself to upstage
anything that went on in the Super Bowl. So convincing was the likeness
that many fell involuntarily to their knees as the Queen passed.
By this
time, even the wittiest among us are convinced that they did not
pass Mr. Tinker's exam in the Age of Johnson. That exam was "hell."
Several others were worthy of the devil. We are at that critical
period when the leading scholars among us return to their rooms
with long faces, muttering "flunked," while the morons come back
smiling, sure of at least a 60. It is so much nicer to be a moron,
because less is expected of one.
Attendance
at Alumni Day was so great that a few were of necessity turned away.
The invitation extended to the alumni to attend this luncheon as
guests of the University is generous indeed, but it does seem that
a few take advantage of this generosity by getting a free meal for
the whole family, as witnessed by several children from eight to
fifteen and even some wives who didn't seem too interested in the
proceedings. I do not suggest cutting out the wives by any manner
of means (although I know some do). But if some restriction were
suggested, then those few who were actually turned away after coming
some distance just for this opportunity to visit with their classmates
and hear the President's report would have been able to attend in
comfort.
The
underage Yale drinker need no longer break the law to buy his booze.
The Connecticut state age of majority dropped from 21 to 18. Students
who do their carousing within the boundaries of Yale have traditionally enjoyed a tacit immunity from anti-vice laws, so the new legal sanction
won't profoundly affect social life on campus. Certain social rituals,
however, have been changing recently. A seeming decline in the popularity
of marijuana during the past couple of years has been offset by
a drinking revival. So, cheers." |
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