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Come Cheer for Washington and Lee - The University at 250 Years by Mame Warren
Washington and Lee is an intensely intimate place, defined as
much by its Honor System and its beautiful, rural setting as by the
generals who gave their names to the small, struggling college and
fledgling law school on Virginia's western frontier. Through observations
drawn from more than two hundred hours of interviews with alumni and
others, Come Cheer for Washington and Lee examines the W&L experience. It
recounts reverential and sometimes hilarious reminiscences of favorite
faculty members, campus characters, dramatic turning points, and life in
Lexington from the 1920s through the 1990s.
Readers are invited to relive Cy Young's famous pep rallies and
to glory in Rockbridge County's seasons viewed from front porches of
student homes, boulders in Goshen Pass, and Zollman's Pavilion. Countless
couples cavort at Fancy Dress Balls; aspiring politicians mount
astonishingly realistic mock conventions every four years; the law school
burns, then returns stronger than ever; Bob "Murph" Murray quashes a
panty raid at Southern Sem; housemothers simultaneously dote upon and
gently discipline their charges. Impassioned students enlist the day
after Pearl Harbor, and almost thirty years later, others - just as
passionate - question authority and attempt to halt classes. Integration
quietly comes to campus and undergraduate women arrive to great fanfare.
Come along as the generations bustle down the Colonnade, steeping
themselves - and us - in an education brimming with academic challenges,
unsurpassed in wit and elegance. Join in the exuberance, both visual and
verbal, and Come Cheer for Washington and Lee as it celebrates its 250th
year.
"Here is the unstuffy, downright delightful history book that this college
full of history has published for its 250th anniversary. It's a marvelous
anecdotal ramble through the memories of alumni, presidents, professors,
even some historians, and a few kids who grew up on campus. The best of
the book could well be the photographs, some of which are quite old but
still bring out of wistfulness a grateful joy that otherwise might be lost.
- Charley McDowell Jr. '48
Conceived as the quintessential family album, Come Cheer for Washington
and Lee blends carefully considered commentaries, compelling images, and
perceptive musings into a deeply satisfying whole. From the pithy prose
of Sid Coulling '46, Frank Parsons '54, and Bob Keefe '68 to the lyrical
recollections of trips down the road by Niall MacKenzie '93, chapters
abound with information, both historical and personal, reflecting the
rigorous research and poignant memories of some of the University's
brightest stars. More than four hundred photographs and documents, many
published for the first time, complement and illustrate the text.
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