What emotional experience does almost every student at a mega-university have in common? Fear of finals. Frustration over closed classes. Anger at the student newspaper. But there are some special moments that make every one of us a “Husky.” It might be that unforgettable lecture by Dr. Costigan, that sudden sense of discovery deep in the stacks of Suzzallo, the breathless wonder of a sunny day on Rainier Vista, or yes, the thrill of watching a football game in Husky Stadium.
Other than commencement and freshman convocation, a sporting event, and particularly a football game, is the only opportunity for the entire University community to gather in one place and celebrate itself. Presidents and provosts, professors and pledges—they are all in attendance, all part of a hundred-year ritual that helps bind us together, no matter who wins on the field.
Go back as far as you can, and you’ll find that tradition is strong. RC. “Torchy” Torrance, a class of 1923 alumnus with an extraordinary memory, can tell you about the last game in Denny Field (a 1919 match against Stanford that we lost 3-0) or the opening contest in Husky Stadium (yep, another loss, this time to Dartmouth 28-7). Torchy can also tell you about the mystique of football. In the 1920s, he says, “Everyone was part of the show. The student body, the faculty, the University District merchants and residents, the whole community was part of it.”
And so it remains today. Even if you are thousands of miles from the stadium, many of you can’t resist turning immediately to the Sunday sports section to see how the team did. You can’t help buying a Husky T-shirt for your new grandchild, or sticking a “Husky Fever” sticker on the bumper of your first, brand-new car.
Though it is one of the ties that bind us together, football should never dominate a university. In the same way, it does not dominate this issue. In addition to our cover story by former Seattle P-I columnist Steve Rudman, “100 Years of Husky Football,” there are articles on the arts (“Maestro from the Majors”), business (“The Business of Teaching Business”) and science (“Extinction”). There is also a healthy dose of University news, alumni association activities and class notes. It’s a diet that should appeal to many of our readers, for Columns, too, is meant to be a tie that binds us to the University of Washington.