By Amy Wilkinson
Do you think you know Walla Walla College? Do you hum the school song in your sleep? Or challenge your neighbors to moonlit bed races? Well if you do (or even if you don’t), grab your “Western Wedding College” sweetheart, take a seat in the shade of a mountain ash tree, and ponder these 26 questions designed to test your knowledge of all that is WWC.
You’ve probably heard of the “Hello
Walk,” but what is the “HMT Walk?”
Answer: “HMT”
stands for “Hug Me Tight.” In the early days of the college, fraternization
between the sexes was prohibited. In fact, the sidewalk that ran through campus
was divided into a boys’ side and a girls’ side. Therefore, couples
who wanted to walk together had to do so off campus to avoid the admonishing
eyes of watchful professors. The sidewalk along what is now Sixth Street was
a popular location for these rendezvouses earning it the title “Hug Me
Tight Walk.”
True or False: In the early 1900s, WWC
awarded certificates in broom making.
Answer: True. In 1906
a separate industrial graduation was created, graduating eight students that
year with certificates in printing, engineering, dressmaking, and broom making.
At one point, broom making was one of the most profitable industries on campus.
From what university did the ivy on the
former Administration Building originate?
a. Yale University
b. University of Oregon
c. Harvard University
d. Washington State University
Answer: a and b (this was a trick question!).
During Ernest Kellogg’s tenure as president, he took a trip to the University
of Oregon to visit a former classmate who was teaching there. Kellogg noticed
the vines hanging from the school’s buildings and took a clipping for
himself. The source of UO’s ivy was Yale University.
What was the nickname given to the original
nursing dorm in Portland?
Answer: Spinster Hall. The nickname symbolized
both the distance between the nursing campus and the main campus and the fact
that nursing students were to remain single during training.
Who is Billy Budd?
a. WWC’s first benefactor who donated a portion of his orchard as land
for the new college.
b. The first dean of men.
c. A fictional character whose statue was a gift from the class of 1993.
d. WWC’s only alumnus to ride down Niagara Falls in a barrel.
Answer: c. Billy Budd is the title character
from Herman Melville’s novella, Foretopman Billy Budd, which was written
in 1891 during Melville’s retirement. It was not published until 1924,
after it was discovered in a barn among Melville’s other papers. The
statue, located in front of the library, was created by Tom Emmerson, professor
of art.
Which WWC president resigned in order
to join the Gold Rush in Alaska?
Answer: The college’s youngest president
(he was 22 when he took office), Walter Rankin Sutherland, left for Alaska
in 1900 with English teacher T. E. Andrews. Sadly, Andrews drowned shortly
thereafter, prompting Sutherland to leave Alaska and move to Lincoln, Neb.,
to work for his father.
During the early 1900s, what Christian association were
students forbidden from joining?
Answer: The Young Men’s Christian Association.
College administrators feared that if young men joined the YMCA they would
attend or participate in competitive sports, which was not allowed.
What was the original name of the WWC
yearbook?
a. Western Collegian
b. Mountain Ash
c. The Year in Review
d. The Harvest
Answer: a. First printed in 1915, the Western
Collegian was targeted toward potential students and was filled with articles
describing college life. During the 1916-17 school year, the yearbook was
renamed the Mountain Ash, and a monthly newspaper named The Collegian debuted.
True or False: The first OPS Amateur Hour
winner’s talent was “playing” water glasses with spoons.
Answer: False. Warren Runyan captured first prize
in 1937 by making animal sounds and noises.
What occasion prompted a visit to WWC
by federal agents?
Answer: In 1925, during the height of Prohibition,
a student was found distributing alcohol from his dormitory room. College
officials alerted the feds who searched his room, found a still, and told
him to leave town or face arrest.
How many current campus buildings are
named after former WWC presidents?
Bonus: Name them.
Answer: Three. Kellogg Hall is named after Ernest
C. Kellogg, Smith Hall after Walter I. Smith, and Bowers Hall after George
W. Bowers.
In 1994 a vote was taken by the student
body to pick WWC’s official mascot. Which of the following was not on
the ballot?
a. Explorers
b. Groundhogs
c. Wolves
d. Fighting onions
Answer: b. When the votes were tallied, the wolves
beat the fighting onions by about 100 votes, with the explorers coming in
third.
What was the “AGL?”
Answer: A now-defunct group that called themselves
the Anti-Gossip League. It was formed in May 1916, however, not much is known
about it. According to 60 Years of Progress: The Anniversary History of Walla
Walla College, “The basis for its origin is not too well known but it
is obvious that such an organization would be desirable anytime, anywhere.”
Who is the only WWC president to have
served two separate terms?
Answer: N. Clifford Sorensen, who served from
1976 to 1985 and during the 2001-02 school year.
What 1942 Collegian prophecy was fulfilled
in 1965?
a. Women professors are granted the same wages as men.
b. Canada replaces the Union Jack with its own flag.
c. Sittner Hall has a telephone in each room.
d. Soy milk debuts in the cafeteria.
Answer: c. By 1971 all dormitory rooms were equipped
with a telephone. Women, however, were not granted equal salaries until 1975,
and it’s really anyone’s guess as to when soy milk first debuted
in the cafeteria
In the early ’70s, miniskirts and
blue jeans began appearing on the female students of WWC, much to the chagrin
of the faculty. What solution was concocted to combat this indecent apparel?
Answer: Faculty approved the pantsuit in the
1970-71 school year. This was the first time women had been allowed to wear
pants outside of the gymnasium; therefore, precautions had to be taken to
ensure this privilege was not abused. Betty Howard, the dean of women at the
time, issued a four-page pamphlet outlining the criteria for appropriate pantsuits.
It even included line drawings.
True or False: The inspiration for the
name of the singing group “The Messengers” was the Three Angel’s
Message from Revelation 14.
Answer: False. It was actually named after a
mission boat in Alaska.
What campus construction project was coined
“The Biggest Barn Raising in the West?”
Answer: The construction of the Technology Center
(later named the Canaday Technology Center) started in 1977 was given this
prestigious title. The College board directed that the building have a $23-per-square-foot
construction cost—which was half the normal construction rate. To save
approximately $470,000 the department relied upon donated materials and volunteer
labor. At that time it was one of the largest volunteer projects ever undertaken
by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Many out-of-town volunteers flocked to
the campus, hooking up their trailers in the Sittner Hall parking lot and
sending their kids to the day camp run by the physical education department.
When did the college make its first promotional
video?
a. 1924
b. 1932
c. 1966
d. 1987
Answer: b. In 1921 the college board banned motion
picture showings on campus. However, when a motion picture camera was donated
to the North Pacific Union Conference a few years later, the college took
the opportunity to control the medium and produce its own movies.
What is the English translation of the
women’s club name Aleph Gimel Ain?
Answer: True Comrades in Service
What is the largest major on campus?
a. Business
b. Engineering
c. Nursing
d. Elementary education
Answer: a. The largest major on campus is business,
followed by engineering, nursing, and elementary education.
What inspired the school colors of green
and orange?
Answer: The leaves and berries of the mountain
ash tree. The first mountain ash tree was planted on campus in 1897 to celebrate
the ancient languages of Greek and Latin. Over 100 years later its influence
is still evident, not only in the school colors, but in the name of the college’s
yearbook, the Mountain Ash.
What do the call letters of the college’s
radio station, KGTS, stand for?
Answer: All television and radio stations west
of the Mississippi River carry a “K” at the beginning of their call
letters, but the letters “GTS” have a specific wwc meaning. They
stand for “Gateway to Service,” honoring the twin pillars that stand
in front of the college’s official entrance. A gift from the class of
1918, the Gateway to
Service symbolizes WWC’s mission to educate young people for the service
of God. When graduation was held in the old church (now Village Hall), graduates
would march from the church, through the Gateway, representing their entrance
to a life of service.
What is the record for the number of digits
of pi recited during the Randy Yaw Pi Contest?
a. 504
b. 762
c. 1,212
d. 2,013
Answer: c. The record was set by Hui En Pham
’02.
Who was the first female ASWWC president?
Answer: Twyla Leiske Bechtel ’81, who served
during the 1980-81 school year.
Engineering alumnus Gary Curtis ’59
helped design what famous Seattle structure?
a. The Experience Music Project
b. The Kingdome
c. The Space Needle
d. Safeco Field
Answer: c. The structure, completed in 1962,
was built for the World’s Fair held in Seattle.
-----
Special thanks to Terrie Aamodt, whose book Bold Venture: A History of Walla
Walla College and its endnotes were used to research this article.
Amy Wilkinson is a 2004 business graduate who enjoys all things trivial, including beating her friends at Trivial Pursuit: Pop Culture Edition.