The history of the Goat's Head Rivalry at WPI

by Members of the Skull Honor Society

Picture it now. A small stautuette of a goat, with an oversized head. It is cast entirely in bronze. A quiet little thing, certainly not an object of artistic value (one would think). And yet, each class at this institute would do anything (well, almost anything) to possess this trophy and obtain the bragging rights that their's was the class to possess it. But the trick was to display it to the entire Institute, and not have it subsequently stolen from them.

That is the way it used to be, when the Goat's Head tradition was in full swing and everyone participated. It all went back to the school mascot, a goat who was maintained and kept by a Japanese student named Gompei Kuwada (guess where Gompei's got their name, folks) starting in 1891. Why was he named the goat keeper? Because noone else had the intitials, G.K.! The goat was a gift of the class of 1893, but the animal soon became too difficult to maintain. So what logical thing did they do? They beheaded and mounted the thing!

Beginning with the class of 1928, it was decided that the Goat's Head would become an object of class rivalry to inspire school spirit. The original Goat's Head was actually stolen by the class of 1894 and hidden in Nova Scotia. It was not seen again until 1913, when the crane in the Electrical Engineering Laboratory carried it to the class of 1893 at an alumni dinner. The head was in very poor shape, so it's caricature was cast in bronze and mounted on a disproportionately small body.

Originally, the Goat's Head Competition was focused on the two youngest classes and involved a point system based on various events such as sports, the Tech Carnival, Paddle Rush, and the Rope Pull. The Head was presented to the class that accumulated the largest number of points, who were obligated to "show" the Goat's Head at least once a year in order to give the other class a chance to steal it themselves. Some memorable "showings" included hanging it from a helicopter during a home football game, dropping it from Earle Bridge into a moving convertible, and hanging it in Alumni Gym during a basketball game where it was swung out a window to those waiting outside.

The Goat's Head Competition that began in the 1920s was halted in the 1930s. It came back in the 1950s to some extent and continued for several more years. Formerly a source of class bonding, this competition was abandoned due to the somewhat violent nature of the chases. There are plans for a revival of this tradition, but only time will tell to what extent it will be reintroduced to the WPI community.

Give feedback: newspeak@wpi.wpi.edu
Maintained by: Troy Thompson