Rivalry traditions pull students in

The Sophomore class gets wrapped up in the rope pull, an old WPI tradition, during Saturday's Homecoming festivities. Photo by Marc Cryan

History tells of conflicts, battles, struggles of titanic proportions that shake the lives of those who wage them to their core. Add to this list, the Sophomore / Freshman rivalry. The rivalry was established 110 years ago, and has been waging on and off ever since. In this contest of iron giants, five events that have been set forth to determine which class will be the victor. The first of these competitions is the rope pull, which was first introduced on October 23, 1909.

The "stadium" for this event is the grassy expanse known as Institute Park. In the past, a massive rope was used to span the pond with one team stationed on either side. The lead gladiator on the sophomore's line, tradition states, is the youngest member of the fraternity, Phi Gamma Delta. With fifty members on each team gripping the rope, the slack would be taken up, and the weaker team would be dragged into the murky water. As with all things, traditions change. The valiant contest of the rope pull still goes one, but a fire hose and kiddy pool have replaced the majesty of the pond, as well as making the competition less location dependant. This year, the contest was forced to occur on the softball field rather than in the park of it's conceiving since the grass in Institute Park was being reseeded. Though this is only the second time the majestic event has been displaced from Institute Park, the rivalry showed itself to be alive and well.

A member of the class of 2003 is drug through the mud in the freshman victory. Photo by Marc Cryan

In this, the two thousandth year A.D., the class of 2003 and 2004 met upon the field of battle to take the first step toward winning the Goat's Head Trophy. As the two teams gathered on their perspective sides, liability waivers were given out. Once waivers were signed, the team shirts were handed out. At first, the teams had some trouble rounding up combatants, but after several calls, enough students were gathered to begin the pull. The fire hose was fired up, the slack was taken up, and the 2000 rope pull began. After several moments of desperate pulling, the freshman class made a mighty lurch and dragged the sophomores to bitter defeat.

Victorious cheers arose, but were soon replaced by a new battle cry as, like a strange bronze phoenix, the goat appeared on the other side of the fence. The majority of the freshman mob instantly released the rope and charged after the object that they so longed for, but to no avail. The goat made a timely and speedy escape from the scene leaving the freshman trailing hopelessly behind. The freshman can however take heart in the fact that they are the victors of the day, and are one step closer to winning that most sacred of challenges, the Goat's Head Rivalry.