Raccoon vs. Sheep: A Skin Game

The 1929 Vigilance committee stirred 1930 from its apathy with the dictum that no fur coats were to be worn by freshmen in Hanover. Immediately the Vox Populi section of THE DARTMOUTH was the locus of a verbal battle. The freshmen thought it unfair of the sophomores to decree against raccoon caats so late in the season for. as one freshman wrote, "Now the committee has forbidden the newcomers to keep warm in winter!" A young Henry Clay of the sophomore class ended the harangue with the suggestion that hereafter such rules be laid down earlier in the year before fur coats are bought and that this year the freshmen abide by the decision and spend their energies in getting an education so that all may wear a fur coat after graduation. The sheepskin tradition of democracy in dress was ably defended by the sophomores and the rule still stands on the books. But, as one sophomore wrote, the higher cost of education is bringing a wealthier class of boys to Dartmouth and fur coats will have their day. All of which is something to think about, think many undergraduates.