Colgate University 1939 Yearbook (Hamilton, NY) - Full Access

~II ~merican Spirit lt was a frenzied mob of Syracusans that tore down the goal po ts last fall after the Orangemen had won their first victory in fourteen years over the Maroon Raiders. Wild with excitement, the mob of victors stormed toward the Colgate stands; ready to trample on the fallen hosts from the Chenango valley. And then there came an almost unbeliev– able happening- unbelievable unless one saw it. As the wildly-cheering Bill Orange stormed up to the stands of the losers, an onslaught of cheers such as had never been heard during the long years of Colgate victories, echoed through Archbold Stadium. After almost five minutes of roaring cheers, the Colgate sup– porters stood bare-headed and proud as they sang the Alma Mater which had followed every victory and every defeat through so many Colgate contests. When the Alma Mater was finished, instead of jeers and fights, the stadium again re– sounded as an unprecedented wave of applause rose from the Syracuse stands. The victor, in the greatest moment of his win, was thrilled by the sportsmanship of the school whose reputation as a good winner had been so ably supported by a newly-earned reputation as a good loser. Under the able leadership of Jack Briggs, head cheerleader, and Berry Walker, song leader, the Colgate cheering section this year upheld a reputation gained in its years of vic– tory as an "All-American Cheering Section." Although the gridiron scores this year were not as favorable as could have been expected, there was no defeat in the losses. A team which fought until it fell in its tracks and dropped the game by only a slight margin was hacked. by one thousand men whose fighting never stopped and whose spirit was never af– fected by optimism or pessimism. Pep rallies have never fallen below the standards set during the years when the team least needed campus support. Spirit reached a peak then which it has never dropped . Col– gate is a little college with a big name, its students are a small group with all the power of a compact and well-organized machine. Cooperation and good fellowship have made of campus life the same happy comradeship that is so intensely personified on the grid– iron, the diamond, or in any other form of Colgate life. Supporting teams, win or lose, man for man, and each for his school first, last and al– ways; that is the "spirit that is Colgate." 189