To the PSU community –
This editorial is to stand as an open letter and an outcry against the disappearance and removal of the one, if not the only, last remaining tradition Plymouth State University carries.
For the last several decades each Fall, two pumpkins appear “mysteriously” atop each of the spires on the Rounds Hall Clock Tower. In the fall of 2001, four pumpkins appeared in honor of the tragedy that befell the nation on September 11. Despite the history the pumpkins have had with the University, the Clock Tower is pumpkin-less this fall. Why is that?
Featured in this issue of The Clock you, the reader, will find an article that highlights the fact that due to the recent roof construction on Rounds Hall, the access to the Clock Tower has been locked. The locking of the tower, in this staff’s opinion, is the final “lock” on the last remaining tradition of PSU. We here at The Clock, which takes its name from the iconic symbol of Rounds, are upset that despite how small a tradition the pumpkin placement seems it is still a tradition we should be proud to have.
We understand that as time passes the old makes way for the new. If it didn’t there wouldn’t be such tragedies as “urban renewal” and there would be no need for the History Channel. It is not to say that change is not good. As PSU grows and matures, change is inevitable in order to accommodate new people and new surroundings. What should not be lost is the history and spirit of Plymouth State University, Plymouth State College, Plymouth Teachers College and Plymouth Normal School.
The New England setting that surrounds PSU is rich in history and tradition and the history of the school is a contributing factor to that. If the readers of this newspaper are so apt, they can purchase a copy of Bruce D. Heald’s “Images of America: Plymouth State College” in the campus bookstore for a pictorial history of the campus. In this book, present day students can discover a series of traditions PSU once held so dear, that are now lost to the archives.
A small tradition yes, but nevertheless it is a tradition that each day in the Autumn, PSU students, visiting tour groups and alumni can view the pumpkins resting in the sky. With this editorial in place, a call for an official reason from either the administration or those who place the pumpkins each year is requested. With the apparent attempts to break into the Clock Tower, it is only fair that we as a community are aware and informed. If there can be no honesty for an issue that may seem so small, then what else are we not being told about?
– The Clock Staff