Posted 6:49 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2013
UW-L alum recalls the year his fraternity earned the privilege of hanging the lantern on Graff Main Hall. The Hanging of the Lantern tradition will be shared with UW-L graduates at commencement Dec. 15.
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Orle Brown and James Christensen, center, members of Phi Sigma Epsilon, hang the lantern from Main Hall for the 1968 Homecoming festivities. The lantern burned throughout the weekend. Photo courtesy of UW-L Murphy Library.[/caption]
In 1968 the Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity was on a roll. They won the ice sculpting contest, the campus-wide trivia contest and even the singing contest to the tune of “Baa, Baa Black Sheep” while decked in blazers on the stage of Graff Main Hall auditorium.
For their valiant wins, the group earned the great honor of hanging the lantern above the south entrance to Graff Main Hall.
“It was a chore too!,” exclaims James Christensen, '68, who was pledge master for the fraternity that year. “That thing was heavy… it took four or five of us.”
Christensen was grateful a custodian was supervising as they used a long pole to hoist the lantern out over the edge of the building and attached it above the door. The hanging of the lantern was the culmination of the homecoming festivities and something Christensen, 73, will never forget.
“That was an honor to me,” he says. “And I told the pledge guys what an honor it was to be continuing the tradition.”
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James Christensen, ’68, now lives outside Washington, D.C.[/caption]
The "Hanging of the Lantern" tradition began over the south entrance to Graff Main Hall in 1931 at the suggestion of English teacher Orris O. White who said, "We'll hang the lantern in the old college tower...You won't need to look for the key - the door will be open." A lantern now hangs in the Hoeschler Tower at the center of campus.
Today the UW-L Alumni Association shares the lantern tradition and the Lighting of the L tradition with new freshmen. At this year’s December commencement, Lore Vang, president of the UW-L Alumni Association board, will make reference to the lantern tradition when addressing the graduating class.
“This is something they can hopefully hold on to and associate with the institution,” says Vang regarding the lantern. “It’s a symbol welcoming alumni back to the campus and it establishes an alumni identity as well.”
Looking back Christensen appreciates the symbolic richness of the lantern tradition even more than he did as an undergraduate. His UW-L education built on the heritage and values he grew up with in Wisconsin’s dairyland. Those values involved building friendships, serving as a leader and being involved in the community.
“I think that is what the university experience is. It is not just education, but values and traditions that come with it,” he says. “It gives you the foundation for who you become. You don’t get that way because you’re born that way. You are mentored and tutored.”
Life took Christensen first to the state capitol where he worked as a fiscal analyst for the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau and later to Washington, D.C., where he served as a special agent for the U.S. Secret Service for 30 years. Throughout his career he fell back on his family and educational values.
“There are temptations out there — educationally and morally,” he says. “You have to keep yourself on straight and narrow. A broad education helps you rationalize and see through things.”
For this reason, Christensen always shared with the young agents how important it was to complete a college education.
“It meant a lot to me. I was this little boy from Wisconsin who has now been all around the world and even protected the president,” he says. “UW-L instilled the knowledge, values and humility to do that work.”
Orle Brown and James Christensen, center, members of Phi Sigma Epsilon, hang the lantern from Main Hall for the 1968 Homecoming festivities. The lantern burned throughout the weekend. Photo courtesy of UW-L Murphy Library.[/caption]
In 1968 the Phi Sigma Epsilon fraternity was on a roll. They won the ice sculpting contest, the campus-wide trivia contest and even the singing contest to the tune of “Baa, Baa Black Sheep” while decked in blazers on the stage of Graff Main Hall auditorium.
For their valiant wins, the group earned the great honor of hanging the lantern above the south entrance to Graff Main Hall.
“It was a chore too!,” exclaims James Christensen, '68, who was pledge master for the fraternity that year. “That thing was heavy… it took four or five of us.”
Christensen was grateful a custodian was supervising as they used a long pole to hoist the lantern out over the edge of the building and attached it above the door. The hanging of the lantern was the culmination of the homecoming festivities and something Christensen, 73, will never forget.
“That was an honor to me,” he says. “And I told the pledge guys what an honor it was to be continuing the tradition.”
[caption id="attachment_4255" align="alignright" width="350"] James Christensen, ’68, now lives outside Washington, D.C.[/caption]
The "Hanging of the Lantern" tradition began over the south entrance to Graff Main Hall in 1931 at the suggestion of English teacher Orris O. White who said, "We'll hang the lantern in the old college tower...You won't need to look for the key - the door will be open." A lantern now hangs in the Hoeschler Tower at the center of campus.
Today the UW-L Alumni Association shares the lantern tradition and the Lighting of the L tradition with new freshmen. At this year’s December commencement, Lore Vang, president of the UW-L Alumni Association board, will make reference to the lantern tradition when addressing the graduating class.
“This is something they can hopefully hold on to and associate with the institution,” says Vang regarding the lantern. “It’s a symbol welcoming alumni back to the campus and it establishes an alumni identity as well.”
Looking back Christensen appreciates the symbolic richness of the lantern tradition even more than he did as an undergraduate. His UW-L education built on the heritage and values he grew up with in Wisconsin’s dairyland. Those values involved building friendships, serving as a leader and being involved in the community.
“I think that is what the university experience is. It is not just education, but values and traditions that come with it,” he says. “It gives you the foundation for who you become. You don’t get that way because you’re born that way. You are mentored and tutored.”
Life took Christensen first to the state capitol where he worked as a fiscal analyst for the Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau and later to Washington, D.C., where he served as a special agent for the U.S. Secret Service for 30 years. Throughout his career he fell back on his family and educational values.
“There are temptations out there — educationally and morally,” he says. “You have to keep yourself on straight and narrow. A broad education helps you rationalize and see through things.”
For this reason, Christensen always shared with the young agents how important it was to complete a college education.
“It meant a lot to me. I was this little boy from Wisconsin who has now been all around the world and even protected the president,” he says. “UW-L instilled the knowledge, values and humility to do that work.”