E-week celebrates engineer St. Patrick
March 18, 2008
Engineering students gather on Francis Quadrangle on March 7 following a ceremony during which the dome of Jesse Hall was lit green. The dome stayed lit for Engineers’ Week, an MU tradition that ties St. Patrick’s Day to engineering.
Engineers’ Club president Emily Gogel stands beside St. Patrick as Chancellor Brady Deaton is made an honorary knight of St. Patrick as a part of the Engineers’ Week ceremonies. Those knighted were deemed to have made significant contributions to the field of engineering.
Senior Suzanne Bergman plays Dorothy from ‘The Wizard of Oz’ and oils up senior Kyle Zick as the Tin Man during an Engineers’ Week skit at Deja Vu Comedy Club last Tuesday. Engineering students put on five skits featuring E-Week King and Queen candidates.
(Click graphic to enlarge)
Missionary, priest and patron saint of Ireland St. Patrick died in the fifth century, but no one told the College of Engineering.
Jesse Hall shone bright green last week as engineers took up the cause of celebrating their profession and the patronage of their saint during Engineers’ Week. According to legend, St. Patrick was an engineer as well as the patron saint of engineers, so for over a hundred years the students and faculty of the College of Engineering have dedicated the week before St. Patrick’s Day to the celebration.
The tradition of Engineers’ Week started in 1903 as engineering students started skipping class in the name of St. Patrick. The tradition grew into the first celebration of St. Patrick’s Day as an engineering holiday as well as one of the most recognizable traditions on campus.
Engineering organizations chose seniors to be candidates for King of Valor and Wit and Queen of Love and Beauty to represent St. Patrick and the College of Engineering, coming up with five final candidate pairs that worked together on events throughout the week. At each event, engineering students voted upon which candidate they would like to be crowned by St. Patrick at the St. Patrick’s Ball on Saturday.
King candidates carried around large shillelagh sticks during the week to signify both their candidacy for king and to protect St. Patrick from his rivals — the School of Law and College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources — according to legend, king candidate Garrett Bentley said.
The week started off by lighting the dome of Jesse Hall green in the first dome lighting ceremony, marking the 20th anniversary of the dome’s green hue during Engineers’ Week. The green dome acts as a beacon to everyone to celebrate Engineers’ Week with the students, Bentley said.
“People all over Columbia see Jesse Hall everyday but during E-week you notice it,” Bentley said. “Anywhere in town you can see the big green lights and people who don’t know about it start asking around.”
The first event for the week was the Road Relay on Saturday where contestants participated in a scavenger hunt race where clues would bring them to a new location where a king and queen candidate pair would be waiting. The race ended in a concert and prizes were awarded for the best dressed, least mileage driven and fastest time.
The St. Pat’s BBQ at Deja Vu Comedy Club on Tuesday was an opportunity for students and faculty to come together and eat as well as watch the Quiz Bowl Finals and skits. The king and queen candidates prepared the skits, and themes ranged from St. Patrick to rambunctious Missouri University of Science and Technology students to zombies.
The College of Engineering hosted an open house for students to come and see what engineering is all about. Professors presented research and demonstrated the lighter side of the profession.
“It’s helping people realize that although we are a science and mathematic-based curriculum we do neat things,” professor and Engineers’ Week sponsor Robert Leavene said.
On Friday, senior engineering students took part in the Knighting Ceremony where students were called upon to kiss the Blarney Stone and be knighted by the College of Engineering St. Patrick with his shillelagh stick.
The Knighting Ceremony started off by awarding honorary knighthoods to prominent alumni and friends of the College of Engineering, including MU Chancellor Brady Deaton.
Deaton said he felt honored to become a knight of St. Patrick, participating fully in the event, including the grand kowtow where all in attendance knelt and put their foreheads to the ground while St. Patrick left the area. He hailed the tradition of Engineers’ Week as a rich and trendsetting tradition on the MU campus.
“I think that it speaks to the kind of innovative spirit that the College of Engineering portrays and it is steeped in the tradition of the university and that itself is just wonderful,” Deaton said.
Other events included eating contests, tournaments and building a catapult to launch an egg at a frying pan in the middle of Francis Quadrangle.
The week ended with the St. Pat’s Ball and Casino Night on Saturday where students came to dance and eat as well as see the coronation of the king and queen.
The feeble St. Patrick, wearing a green robe and sporting a long beard that concealed his face, walked in on the arms of two engineering students to crown Michael Bibb as the King of Valor and Wit and Suzanne Bergner as the Queen of Love and Beauty.
“It was such an honor to be a part of such a long-standing tradition at Mizzou,” Bibb said.
Engineering week gave faculty and staff the opportunity to mingle with students outside a class setting and gave students a reason to show pride in their major through one of MU’s oldest traditions.
“It kind of shows everyone how we are not just nerds,” king candidate Andrew Blaquiere said. “It really shows off the college of engineering to other majors who might think that it is just study all the time that we can have fun.”
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