Other Tall Tales

Brown Hall and Dod Hall were occupied by a high proportion of freshmen, and as a result heated rivalries evolved, including water balloon and snowball fights, pranks, and other challenges. By the spring of 1967, one of these exchanges was so notorious that the exasperated Dean of Students simply placed all of the residents of Brown on social probation for the remainder of the year. Undaunted, they all acquired tee shirts which they proudly wore into Commons one night, bearing the words, "Brown Hall Probation."

Elsewhere Princeton was different as well: football dominated the Ivy League with its complex single wing offense (prompting Sports Illustrated to write that "When the Tiger ran a sweep around the end, it looked as if the the entire freshmen class was leading the blocking."). Until the opening of Jadwin Gym in 1968, basketball, wrestling, fencing, squash, and swimming all took place in Dillon Gym (swimming did not move until 1990), so it was not unusual for a student spectator to quit the Library early and take in more than one competition in an afternoon or evening as word of an upset spread through the stacks.

Almost all freshmen and sophomores took their meals in five contiguous halls, in order Upper and Lower Cloister, Sub Eagle, Hamilton, and Madison. Woe to the attractive woman who ventured therein, especially during the week, as the diners showed their enthusiastic approval by pounding the tables with their spoons (spooning) as she and her escort exited from the hall.