Tradition Stone celebrates the big five-o

Submitted by Megan Otts
Phone: (907) 474-6959
08/06/07

When the University of Alaska Fairbanks welcomes the class of 1957 for its golden reunion later this fall, one of the university’s most elusive and oldest traditions will be celebrating a milestone of its own.

The 400-pound Tradition Stone made its first appearance on campus during a student protest in1957. Hundreds of students gathered in front of Constitution Hall to protest President Ernest Patty’s establishment of prohibition on campus. They lamented the death of various campus traditions and buried empty beer and liquor bottles in a mock funeral. Tradition’s symbolic grave was marked by a concrete headstone which read simply, "HERE LIES TRADITION 1957."

The next day, Patty ordered the grave marker destroyed. Before the administration could seize the stone, it was stolen. Thus a new campus tradition began. Since then, the Tradition Stone has passed through countless students’ hands, fiercely protected and surrounded by an unwavering air of secrecy. It has emerged from exile only briefly, at various UAF events like Starvation Gulch and All Campus Day, before being spirited off again to unknown locations.

It has reportedly spent a few years at the bottom of the Chena River and was stashed outside of a cabin on Farmers Loop Road, hidden in a swimming pool, concealed in the woods around Fairbanks, sunken in Ballaine Lake and seized and held as evidence in a criminal investigation in the early 1990s. Efforts to conceal the stone are rumored to have taken it to such far-flung places as Texas, Washington, Brazil and Argentina. Some say a chunk of it traveled to Vietnam with a young soldier.

Regardless of its exact location, the Tradition Stone has always served as a symbol of Nanook pride. It has become a lasting tradition on campus and the mystery and secrecy surrounding its whereabouts only add to its intrigue.

Sources say that the stone currently resides in the Anchorage area. It remains to be seen whether it will return to campus to celebrate its 50th anniversary alongside its creators at Starvation Gulch 2007.

For more information on the alumni reunion scheduled Sept. 22-22 visit www.uaf.edu/alumni/ or call 1-800-770-2586.