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Hurricane of '38 tested mettle of Massachusetts State College

If there is a yardstick to measure hurricanes against, old-timers say it is the fabled Hurricane of ’38, the ferocious storm that ripped through New England and the Massachusetts State College campus 70 years ago this month.

The first signs of the approaching tempest, according to the Alumni Bulletin, were detected by Engineering professor Christian I. Gunness, who was in charge of daily meteorological observations at the college.

As Gunness watched the barometer in Stockbridge Hall late in the afternoon of Sept.

'69 honorary degree recipients were quite an accomplished group

When it comes to star power, the lineup for honorary degrees in 1969 may have set the standard. Among the 10 degree recipients were legendary CBS newsman Walter Cronkite, poet Archibald MacLeish and Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who gave the Commencement address.

The other degree recipients included Lucy Wilson Benson, of Amherst, national president of the League of Women Voters; Spanish literary critic and poet Damaso Alonso; noted social scientist David Riesman; G. Joseph Tauro, chief justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court; Harry C.

Winter Carnival: A bygone mid-winter celebration

For many years, Winter Carnival was a mid-winter campus celebration featuring concerts, comedy shows, dances, the crowning of a winter carnival queen and, of course, the construction of elaborate snow sculptures.

But as the 1970s dawned, student interest in Winter Carnival waned. Like many other campus traditions, it seemed quaint and outdated and it breathed its last in 1971. In 1988, a student group tried to revive the carnival and organized a snow sculpture contest, but their hopes of an annual event melted away.

Still, in its heyday, Winter Carnival was a lively celebration that drew a

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