Note: If I looked like this, I wouldn't have to deal with Dean's Date. I would eat Dean's Date.
Because sometimes you just have to let it out.
To celebrate the coming of Our Glorious People’s Dean’s Date, one sophomore had a raucous proposal.
Julie Leary ‘12 sent this late-night missive to the Whitman Wire, the listserv for all of Whitman College:
Dear Whitman,
I hereby declare tonight, January 12, 2010, the night of the first official WHITMAN WAIL. At the stroke of twelve tonight, open your window and share in the pain of your fellow Whitmanites with a one-minute WAIL!
Honestly, I could use some moral support right now. And tomorrow is my birthday.
Happy studies,
Julie
Apparently her birthday wish struck a chord in Whitman hearts (and throats), because @ precisely 1200 hours, the opening minute of D-Day rang clear with the wretched cries of suffering Whitmanites. Windows were flung open, tortured souls were laid bare. Men, women, and children alike took part in the communal cry. And with that– that brief, cathartic burst– we all returned to normalcy (read: misery), exactly one minute later. The First (hopefully Biannual) Whitman Wail was complete.
For now, there are papers to be churned out, printers to be jammed. But that midnight wail might let the midnight oil burn a little easier.
Update: Julie notes that she was paying homage to the older tradition of the “Holder Howl”– and in retrospect, similar sounds of despair did seem to be emanating from other areas of campus.
2 Comments
Exeter (PEA) has had a “Midnight Scream” for well over 50-years, which takes place on Reading Day (just before finals). Everyone on the campus lets their voices fly. So let’s hope this imitation from (Meg) Whitman College doesn’t try to commemorate birthdays from now on when there is no much more to have angst about.
David -
This was imitating the Holder Howl, an older Princeton tradition. While the “Wail” is still an imitation, it’s inter-Princeton borrowing. And if you think about it, just how particularly creative is it that people scream while studying overwhelming amounts?