Starting in 1913, freshmen began placing their class colors in a tree outside Old Central so they could dare anyone to remove them. The result was the annual “class fight,” which took place at the old cottonwood tree every year until 1919, with the exception of 1918. Another early tradition was the tug of war, across a campus pond (pictured), which pitted two adversarial class teams against each other. Faculty referees assisted and the contest was considered a failure unless someone got wet.
