{"id":2537,"date":"2020-05-14T19:04:19","date_gmt":"2020-05-14T19:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/dearoldwabash\/?p=2537"},"modified":"2020-05-14T19:04:19","modified_gmt":"2020-05-14T19:04:19","slug":"an-unusual-commencement-1957","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.wabash.edu\/dearoldwabash\/2020\/05\/14\/an-unusual-commencement-1957\/","title":{"rendered":"An unusual commencement – 1957"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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As I post this blog, we are in the midst of the corona virus lockdown. Many are the stories of loss, whether the loss of a job, loss of business, loss of things we never even thought about, and the greatest loss of all, loss of loved ones \u2013 neighbors, family and friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So much we\u2019ve lost and yet we have found a great deal as well. The simple pleasures of a slower time. A time when there is nowhere to rush off to, when appointments and activities are on hold. We have found ways to connect and alternatives to in-person activities.  As Wabash prepares to celebrate its first ever virtual commencement, here is a story of another unusual graduation gleaned from past pages of The Bachelor<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Wabash in the spring of 1957, the 125th<\/sup> of its existence, things were clicking along in fine fashion. Robert Minor Hurt of the class of \u201957 had just been elected as President of his fraternity, Phi Delta Gamma. Hurt was also a popular member of the Speaker\u2019s Bureau and a talented debater. When the fraternity gathered for its election of officers for the fall semester, it was odd that the president was absent. Some thought that perhaps he had gone to Indianapolis, where a recent storm had knocked out some phone lines. This, they thought, would explain his lack of contact. When Wednesday evening arrived and no word was received, Dave Orr [W1957] went to President Trippet to report Hurt missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Phi Delts gathered to discuss possibilities and his friends, \u201c\u2026recalled that Pine Hills had been one of Hurt\u2019s favorite spring study places.\u201d A search party took off to check. Here is their report from The Bachelor<\/em> of May 24, 1957.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStudent Posse Rescues Bob Hurt in Midnight Search of Forest Area<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCampus tragedy was averted early Thursday morning when a 100-man search and rescue party found Bob Hurt, Phi Delt senior missing for 36 hours, lying semi-conscious at the base of an 80-foot precipice at Pine Hills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHurt, missing since mid-afternoon Tuesday, was found about midnight Wednesday by Joe Malott, Mike Cummings, Ron Rossie, and Dan Millar following the earlier discovery of his car abandoned in the rutted road leading into the secluded forest area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The riveting story of the search team follows as taken from The Bachelor <\/em>and lightly edited:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hurt Rescuers Relate Story<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by Bill Morgan News Editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Printed below is the story told this writer by the search party that first reached Bob Hurt in Pine Hills, Wednesday night.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was about 11:05 p.m. when eight of us and Phi Delt Faculty Adviser Ed Gullion got to Pine Hills. We pulled into a drive leading back into the woods but couldn\u2019t go far in the car\u2026the rains during the past twenty-four hours had made the ground too soft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe started walking up that muddy road \u2013 none of us really expecting to find Hurt. We\u2019d only gone about twenty-five yards when Gabbert said, \u201cThere\u2019s his car.\u201d It was funny how calmly he said it\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Search Begins<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe checked the inside of the car, and somewhat melodramatically peered into the trunk. There was no sign of violence, and no trace of Hurt. We decided to split up and start searching the woods \u2013 three of us would follow the road while the rest looked more carefully around the car. Gullion left us to phone back to the house that the car had been found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince Cummings had been out there several times with Hurt, he knew where Bob usually went to study, and he led us [Malott and Millar] through the mist and the mud to that spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSeeing no evidence of Hurt having been there, we waited for word from the rest of the group. The other five arrived within a few minutes and reported they\u2019d found nothing around the car.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Second Clue<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAbout 11:20 p.m. Hamer and Lodovisi spotted three footprints. On closer inspection we noticed a tree root sticking up out of the ground, a couple of sliding marks\u2026and a cliff! It was a drop of 70-100 feet to the bottom, where we could see a stream of water. We couldn\u2019t make out many other details from the top with our flashlights\u2026Malott was ready to try to crawl down the side of the cliff to look\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCummings remembered a path a short way ahead that led down along the creek\u2026So four of us went down to search. The other four stayed at the top of the cliff, where the footprints had been to guide us to the right spot with their flashlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter following a winding trail to the bottom, we found that the path came to an end\u2026We had to walk down the middle of the creek.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Search Ends<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen as we approached the spot beneath the footprints, we heard a moaning sound. Three or four feet from the edge of the creek we spied Hurt. He was lying in a bed of stones. Marks in the mud indicated that he may have crawled \u2013 literally crawled \u2013 the three or four feet from the water\u2019s edge to where he was now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we got closer, we saw he was lying on his stomach \u2013 trying to prop himself up on his hands. He looked around. The glare of the flashlight was in his eyes\u2026I don\u2019t think he knew who we were right away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe first words we heard Hurt say were, \u201cIt seems that I\u2019ve had a little accident.\u201d\u2026then after we told him our names, and got across to him that we were friends, he said: \u201cWhere have you guys been? What have you been doing?\u201d He looked at his watch and said, \u201cI haven\u2019t been able to move for a long time.\u201d The watch was still running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hurt\u2019s Condition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe was very pale and obviously in a state of severe shock. His skin was yellow. His eyes never closed\u2026they gave us a glassy stare. When asked how he was, he said, \u201cAll right\u2026\u201d We asked where he hurt, and he complained only of his left knee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe could also see a deep cut above his left eyebrow, which he had apparently gotten during the fall\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA couple of us looked around for some dry wood to build a fire\u2026and finally got a small one going\u2026using some handkerchiefs and a T-shirt to kindle it. We covered him with our coats and shirts to help keep him warm\u2026but he still complained of his left leg being cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe finally \u2018came out of it\u2019 enough to realize what was wrong with him: shock, a cut on his forehead, exposure, and his left leg. He insisted he hadn\u2019t fallen\u2026but he said he\u2019d sprained his left leg and trying to favor it he hurt his right leg, too\u2026He said he\u2019d been trying to make a walking stick to help him get out. Hurt couldn\u2019t explain the cut on his forehead, or why he\u2019d been lying in the water \u2013 fully clothed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others Arrive<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cUnder Gullion\u2019s direction we fashioned a make-shift stretcher of blankets and started carrying him back up the creek, and out the way we\u2019d come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019d moved him about 100 yards when (Athletic Trainer) Stebbins got there with a stretcher and his training kit. A conservation man with him said he knew an easier way out\u2026but that we\u2019d have to go back the other way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B.K.T. Arrives<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAbout that time, President Trippet arrived on the scene, fully dressed in a suit, a cigarette in one hand, his overcoat over the other arm, his homburg tipped down over one side of his head \u2013 walking through two feet of water as casually as if taking a jaunt between Center Hall and the Chapel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever seen a calmer person in such an emergency\u2026and a person with such a deep interest. He\u2019d climbed and slid down the treacherous paths, waded down the middle of the creek, and announced that he was staying with Hurt \u2018til they got him out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Retreat<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy this time several more people \u2013 mostly students and county officials of some sort \u2013 had arrived, and we started carrying the stretcher back down the middle of the creek, up a hill, and out to the road. The whole trip back with the stretcher took us an hour or better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere wasn\u2019t any path for us to follow most of the way\u2026and I remember at one place the mosquitos were so thick you could grab a handful right out of the air. One of the fellows said he\u2019d swallowed a couple. The ambulance was waiting at the road and we shifted Hurt from the stretcher to the ambulance cot, and they rushed him off to the hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI glanced at my watch\u2026It was shortly after 2 a.m. \u2013 the three longest hours any of us had spent were ended.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a summary of Hurt\u2019s condition, again from that same issue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHurt\u2019s injuries include a fractured left kneecap, fractured left hip, slight fracture of the pelvis, partial collapse of the right lung, and miscellaneous cuts, scrapes and bruises. At the time of his rescue, he was in a state of severe shock from which he has now emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOn Thursday, he was given blood transfusions and oxygen, and fed intravenously.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The paper carried a bulletin from Culver noting that Hurt was conscious, but in critical condition and stating that no visitors were allowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The story continues in the June 6, 1957 edition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe black academic dress of the commencement procession was mingled with the white clothes of hospital employees this morning when Bob Hurt, still convalescing from his May 22 fall, received his B.A. degree from his bed in Culver Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe special ceremonies took place at 9:45 a.m. this morning with President B.K. Trippet, Dean B. A. Rogge, and Dr. J. Crawford Polley, Secretary of the Faculty, officiating. Also attending were Hurt\u2019s parents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe presentation was parallel to that just given the class during the regular commencement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHurt was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa and received his certificate and was initiated at the time of the special commencement by Dr. Trippet, a past president of the society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One can imagine the relief of all of Wabash to have found this young man, rescued him and watched his recovery. An unconventional commencement with a happy ending. One hopes for the same as we prepare to graduate the class of 2020 via modern technology with hopes that all may return to campus in the future for a proper celebration of their achievements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All best,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beth Swift<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Archivist<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wabash College<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crawfordsville, Indiana<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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