↗One of Oregon State’s most famous alumni, 1922 graduate and Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling (far left), in his rook lid. 36 ForOregonState.org/Stater ↙Rook books, like those shown here, were small enough to fit in a pocket. ↗For the 1930 Homecoming, rooks (first-year students) built "the greatest woodpile ever hauled to the campus" on the lot between Waldo Hall and McAlexander Fieldhouse. Beavers beat the Ducks 15-0 the next day. 1 ROOKS and BOOKS Beginning in 1919, students newly arrived on campus didn’t just absorb college tradition; they were quizzed on it. The administrationsanctioned Vigilance Committee, made up of sophomores, published the yearly Rook Bible, a pocket-size handbook aimed at “instilling Beaver spirit.” First-year students, or “rooks,” were required to have the book on their person at all times and memorize its pages. In addition to a brief school history and a collection of songs and yells that rooks were expected to be at the ready to recite, the handbookoutlined rules forbehavior.These included saluting the college president, attending all athletic events, refraining from dating (“fussing”) at games and not smoking on campus. (Students voted to lift the smoking ban in 1947.) Rook cadets wore green arm bands, other male rooks wore a green cap or “rook lid,” and female rooks (“rookesses”) tied a green ribbon in their hair. At the end of May, during Junior Weekend, students tossed these symbols of their rook-titude on a bonfire in a ceremony called the “Burning of the Green,” signifying their advancement to sophomore status. Over the decades, the handbook’s purpose broadened and the rules — particularly their enforcement by what would likely be considered hazing today — loosened. By the 1960s, rook green was required only on certain days. And after the Burning of the Green moved to Homecoming — little more than a month after students started school — that ritual, too, lost its significance.By the 1969-1970 handbook, mentions of these traditions were gone, though theyreappeared brieflyand nostalgicallyin the mid-1990s. —SCHOLLE MCFARLAND Nº
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