The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-04
H4RVdRD,S "HED EHCS"


H4RVdRD'S MED EACS"
Acts of Vandalism in Recent Years Wkjch
Have Been Attributed to Them.
CAMBRIDGE. Mass. June 3-The painting OF
the mysterious symbol Med Fac" presum-
ably by some young college vandal. on the
statue OF John Harvard which stands in the
Memorial Hall triangle has led to a good deal
OF speculation as to the author OF the decd and
OF similar acts which have disRraced Harvard
University. Numerous pranks of similar ma
ture have been recalled and the usual specula-
ton as To the reality OF such an organization
as the Medical Faculty" or the Med.
Facs.. as they are commonly called by Harvard
men. has broken out again.
The first act Of vandalism Of importance in
recent years at the university happened in
1880. The Harvard track team that year won
the Mott Haven Cup. and on the same day.
Nav ~. the Harvard baseball nine defeated
Yale on Holmes Field by score of 9 to &. Tho
college went wild over the two victories. and
celebration which took on vivid crimson hue
was held by the students. On the night OF the
celebration some student raintei the scores OF
the games on the pedestal OF the John Harvard
statue. which has since been the mark for
similar acts OF the students. The steps OF the
Memorial Hall were also daubed in q similar
manner.
The paint and its traces were removed only
with grcSt difficulty, and for long time traces
OF the oilsn the paint we're to be seen on the
statue. Feeling among the students was very
generally In favor OF Furnishing with severity
the guilty persons if they could be found. but
II is said that the miscrcants were never de-
teced.
When the Harvard students returned to their
college work In the fall OF 1895 they found in
the college, ward ODposita the CT nj nj John
Harvard. building whose structure had al
ready called forth a storm OF criticism from
several Of the professors and had. It is said.
made bitter feelings in several quarters. This
building was the Fogg Art Museum 1t was
understood generally that Prof Charles Eliot
Norton was much opposed to the style OF archi-
lecture Of the museum and that its presence in
the yard under the name OF an art museum
was a thorn in the side of his aesthetic temper
ament. On the morning Of March l6. 1895, the
students passing the museum on their way to
breakfast in Memorial Hall saw on the wall OF
the building facing Appleton Chapel this legend
IN painted letters over two feet high.
NoRToEs PRIDE
On the steps OF the chapel there we're nu-
merous daubs of paint and in the snow around
Of paint and enough tootnrnts to form a basis
for an investigation. The miscreant or mis-
as further clues II the college Authorities tiles
however. ever tried to hnd the guilty persons
there were not many signs OF activity on their
part, and the seem nR indifference Displayed
by those who would naturally have been in
terested in the detection OF the mscreant
caused much criticism at the time. Two of the
college correspondents for the Boston news
papers collected number Of clues and sue
ceeded in connecting one OF the students with
the deed. The man left Cambridge very soon
In 1873 the famous old Loulsburg cross was
nj fha
library building. Gore Hall. and taken away
The cross had been taken from Louisburg
chusctts 1t came into the hands Of the
college authorities. md was placed on the
eastern TRANSIENT Of the library. IT remained
In s pnss1nh PRACTICALLY I'M Until one
was undergoing some repairs and the work
mems ladders we're left standing over night at
the eyay During the nGh, The
library aud left at the entrance on the morning
OF Jan. 4. 1891 and no trace OF the thieves was
The affair caused good deal Of speculation
as to the perpetrators The theory which was
accepted most generally was that the Med
Facs." had been reorganized or that the prank
said that the "shinGle or diploma Of the
society had been seen in the room OF one OF the
most notorious Of gil the dare devls in the
were talked over by the students. 1t was a
tradition in college that TO obtain membership
in s ssd % hed to
tected, would compel his expulsion from coll
leRe. and Judging from the character OF most
OF the students who were supposed to belong
been lost. 1t has not been discovered whether
the recent painting Of the John Harvard statue
was the work of a real candidate for the e Med.
Face. or OF some other rattle Drained young