Bloodied Noses, Broken Fingers A Look Back on a UC Tradition
It was a tradition that really put the red in UCs red-and-black class spirit blood red, that is. UCs Archives & Rare Books hosts the first of its quarterly lecture series, Broken Noses and Class Spirit: Flag Rush at the University of Cincinnati, at
3 p.m. Friday, Jan. 19, in the reading room of Archives & Rare Books, located on the eighth floor of Blegen Library.
The lecture is free and is open to the public.
Kevin Grace, head of the Archives & Rare Books Library and University Archivist, will host the illustrated lecture. He says Flag Rush was a nationwide tradition dating from just after the Civil War to World War One. Basically, it was a violent version of Capture the Flag, he explains, saying the competition would be held between the school class levels. Juniors, for example, would run through the halls, yelling that the rush was on. Classrooms emptied, leaving professors standing in front of empty chairs.
The challenging class would lock arms around a pole in the ground, located where the Teachers College now stands, Grace continues. The pole would have a class flag atop it, and the challenged class (seniors, sophomores or freshmen) would try to break through the human barricade, shinny up the pole, and tear down the flag.
Grace says the end result of the tradition meant to build class spirit could often be bloody noses, broken fingers, even concussions. Thats until parents, faculty and administrators put a stop to the tradition because of its violence.
Sometimes after the flag was captured, the class leaders would be tied up, taken to the Cincinnati Zoo, and put in the monkey cages. Other times, it spilled into factories and buildings near Over-the-Rhine, Grace says.
UCs Archives & Rare Books hosts lectures that examine the rich history of UCs collections.
Related Stories
UC Clermont welcomes new associate dean
April 29, 2024
The University of Cincinnati Clermont College has appointed longtime faculty member Krista Clark, PhD, to associate dean of academic affairs.
Business Courier: Alumnus donates to UC
April 29, 2024
Following a gift from a University of Cincinnati alumnus, the Carl H. Lindner College of Business' Center for Professional Selling is being renamed the Grau Center for Professional Selling, the Cincinnati Business Courier reported.
Spectrum News: Student-led organization empowers patients with...
April 29, 2024
Spectrum News highlighted the work of UC student Mallika Desai and the student group Parkinson's Together that takes a multidisciplinary approach to meeting the needs of patients with Parkinson's disease in their community.