#opening exercises

[princetonarchives]

"It is found that those students who most needed exercise, are in the habit of neglecting it almost entirely. This remark will apply to some who stand best in their classes—who are among the hardest students. It has been thought advisable to compel this class, for their own good, to participate regularly in the exercises which they, perhaps, need more than others."

--Princeton president James McCosh, at Opening Exercises, September 14, 1871

[wutbju]

The BJU Opening Service was, in sum, a Debbie Downer.

Alan Benson was working very hard at insisting to all the students that

You are one of us.

Given what Andrew Pledger's interviewees are stating -- RECENT BJU Grads -- nobody at BJU feels included.

[wutbju]

The students are paying attention to the Opening Exercises under Benson as much they were under Pettit.

[wutbju]

And then to cap it all off, John Matthews prayed in the benediction:

We know what it is to fail.

[wutbju]

Predictably, Gary Weier gave his usual Luddite message (47:00):

Moderate your use of technology, especially your phone.

[jazzapplesky]

“Is this even legal?”

It was a proper question for CJ ask when lifting a fence while staring at a “no trespassing “ sign, but Katrina tossed her bag and crawled through the opening after without even a moment of hesitation. “Probably not.” She replied, dusting her jeans off and turning to lifting the fence. “That’s why as long as we get out before dark, we should be fine. C’mon!” "That's not comforting." CJ said as he followed suit, tossing his bag through the opening before crawling through. All the while, Katrina stared at the back of the sign, her eyes passing over a few scribbles of childish profanity daring to defy the point of its existence. They were not the first to explore the abandoned husk of a mill, and given the remnants of blunts and empty bottles in her peripheral view, they will not be the last. Her friend had not bothered to pat the dirt off his jeans, scooping up the backpack to sling over his shoulder. Katrina releases her hold on the chain link fence and the pair silently turned to face their destination. It was the town’s oldest mill, rumored to have been both a scene of several horrific accidents, a favored place of ritual for local a satanic cult and even a mental institution. So far, they only managed to confirm the accidents to be truth. The dark brick building certainly had the air to fuel the rumors, with several parts of the building falling to ruin, tall broken windows, and vines climbing to reclaim the husk of the past in the name of the earth. Stranger still, Katrina noticed it just then, that not even the birds or crickets dared to sing around here. It was so silent, the wind caressing the treetops was all she could hear. The girl briefly squeezed her bag. “…Huh, that’s a little weird.” CJ’s puzzled glance swept to her. “What is?” Katrina tossed the observation from her mind, reaching into her bag to retrieve the notebook. If CJ had not noticed it, then she would rather not linger on it. The pair began to walk towards the looming building together. “Nevermind. So Sam gave me some notes here that we should look into. I’m still not sure about the whole cult thing, I'm kinda hoping because I really don't turn into last week's adventure in the woods. But there’s something in this place that we have to looked into.” CJ grimaced at the idea of possibly having to deal with another weird cult but was brought back but the other half the sentence. “Something like what?” Katrina stoped and spun around to face him, her eyes peering over the notebook, and sparking with curious delight. “The strange disappearances, of course.”