Article by Kishore Rajesh
Photos by Josaphat Ngoga

As you may know, Muddlore is a yearly event at New Student Orientation during which current students recount interesting stories from Mudd’s past, from statue shenanigans to the cannon heist. Given time constraints and other reasons, we have to leave out many fun stories from Muddlore. As one of the Muddlore heads for this year’s Orientation, I’d love to share a list of some of them:

Quick Trivia

Buildings & Alumni

• Prof. Van Hecke ’61, a Mudd chemistry professor who retired last year, was one of the first students to graduate from Mudd. Supposedly, he flipped a coin to determine his major, saying if it landed on heads it would be engineering, if it landed on tails it would be physics, and if it landed on its side he would choose chemistry. The coin bounced off his hand and landed in a crack on the ground, on its side.

Mudd Traditions

• There used to be a tradition that whenever a Mudder got engaged, people would push them into Seal Court (the turtle pond next to Malott dining hall).
• Mudd used to have an annual class contest where all 5 classes (including super-seniors) would compete in an obstacle course.
• Mudd used to have a homecoming celebration.
• Dorm barbecues used to be partially funded by meal swipes. The Hoch would give frozen burger patties and other foodstuffs to dorms, and students could use meal swipes to get the food.

Buildings and Alumni

• Platt Campus Center (formerly known as the Student Campus Center) opened in 1963 the day after JFK was assassinated, making it as old as the television series Doctor Who.
• Joe Platt spent almost 50 years at Claremont. He was president of Mudd, president of CGU, and eventually a Mudd professor until he reached his 90s.
• About a decade ago, Shan replaced another building that looked more Mudd-like (with warts and all).
• Richmond Hoch ’63 and Wayne Drinkward ’73 both attended Mudd.
• Atwood triples were originally built as doubles. Atwood efficiencies were advertised as apartments for married couples.
• The water tower outside of Sontag was built before Mudd in the early 1900s in the architectural style of Scripps.

Bonus

• Wally the Wart was created in 1992, the same year as Bio 52.
• Two movies were partially filmed at Mudd: “The Secret Life of Girls” and “The Fear.” Both have meager ratings on IMDB.

Muddraker Fun Facts

• The Muddraker had a short-lived anonymous gossip section.
• The Muddraker was started in the 80s, had a few years of hiatus, then resumed in the 90s until today.
• The Muddraker used to publish 11 papers a year.
• The Muddraker (and also yearbook) had ads spread throughout.

Sources

• Muddraker Archives
• Joe Platt’s Book (first two decades)
• Ken Baker’s Book (third decade)
• Yearbook Archive in Platt
• Random Alumni I talked to at Alumni Weekend
• Stuff I heard from upperclassmen