Students With Mermaid Riding Bicycle, 1915

Photograph of students on the Old West cupola when a bicycle was attached to the mermaid. The bike was put there as a prank by freshman members of Alpha Chi Rho during the 1914-15 school year. According to a letter by Frank Masland, class of 1918 and one of the participants, the stolen bike belonged to Chaplain Springer. The operation took place in the middle of the night, and the four students made a human ladder by climbing on each others shoulders in order to reach the top of the cupola and hoist the bike up. The college had to hire steeple jacks to take the bike down, after which the boys promptly stole it again.