Just to add further weight to my father’s theory that Grinnell is not a college, it’s a cult, a story from this weekend.
On Sunday, as I mentioned, we took a field trip to the house with my parents and grandparents. As Mark and I got out of the car and waited for everyone else to join us, I actually noticed the street sign for the little branch-off cul-de-sac directly across from our house: Herrick Pl. I pointed it out to Mark and we smiled knowingly at one another.
Herrick, of course, being the name of the campus chapel at Grinnell.
It’s a sign that this was meant to be, clearly. We wouldn’t want to think we’d completely left the bubble.
It’s one of those Unitarian messages from God.
Clearly. It could only have been made more clear by the appearance of a steaming coffee pot under the sign. Or on the front steps.
Just today I was telling someone Grinnell is a cult! It really is, for better and for worse. Maybe all seniors need to undergo some kind of re-programming- this is how you will need to act in the rest of the world. oh well, awareness is the first step.
Having met folks from the cult at Texas A&M, I can promise you that while Grinnellians share many qualities and memories and stories in common… we do not all obey the same ritual sequenced behaviors in response to called stimuli, nor do we restrict certain behaviors to class standing.
We can all laugh at stories of Burling or Norris 4th or Big Cookies or anything to do with Lyle Baumann, but when someone approaches you to say, “howdy!”, you do not respond with a particular circular hand gesture and curious handshake followed by a verbal response that is dependent on the length and strength of your continued affiliation with the University before or after graduation. Grinnellians would also never “punish” an individual for transgressions or diversions from these stereotyped behaviors (transgressions that are encouraged as a sort of ritual dare towards advancement within the society) with ridiculous physical challenges or by singing portions of orthodox campus songs while performing said challenges – especially as much as thirty years beyond matriculation.
Furthermore, there are little if any external symbolic or physical cues that might suggest a Grinnellian, aside from the occasional College logo or affiliated t-shirt. We do not wear class rings, or be sure that College colors predominate our wardrobe.
Grinnell is a collection of shared memories, but NOT a cult.