University of South Carolina Libraries
PEP ONE OF BLUE RIDGES FEATURES College Loyalty Shown Among Cosmopolitan Gathering One of the characteristic fea tures of college loyalty and col lege pride is manifested in the extraordinary amount of college spirit displayed in all the Blue Ridge events. The collecti-ve exhibition of spirit and "pep" is one of the most cordial and hearty signs of genui e and free fellowship, mixed with a pure spice of friendly rivalry. The whole body is a college of col leges. Every group of delegates assumes the responsibility of ad vertising to all the other groups that its college has more "pep" than any other. Each group feels that it has the dignity and importance of its college to main tain. And you may rest assured that one's pride is not abated by the numerical strength of other delegation bodies. The smaller the group the harder is its effort to make itself heard and known. The meal hour is practice hour for college yells and college songs. Each delegation has its table or tables, and as soon as grace is said the yelling always starts. Each college tries to drown out the other. Then the state groups get together in their songs and yells. When all the state colleges get together it is just like the old time "pep" and enthusiasm that we hear at the Carolina-Clemson games. The dishes on the tables rattle like an eruption in China. One feels as if the top of the house would be lifted. That is the kind of college spirit they have at Blue Ridge. There is a fraternal spirit that pervades the entire association surroundings. When one meets another it is with a "hello" that smacks of the democratic spirit on the Carolina campus. Every body knows that everybody else is a Blue Ridge delegate and he (foes not feel that he has met a a stranger at all. There is hard lv a college campus anywhere in the United States where men become acquainted as quickly aid as intimately as on the as soiiation grounis. First of all, everyone is a college man, and second, every one is an associa tion man and a Blue Ridge man. In spite of the name, or, not withstand ig the name, no one suffers from ennuii; no one has the blues. Baniners andi pen1nants make up the background and stage surrounding in the auditorium. Tlney hang from the open'I frame work overheCad like cobwebs, and the various colors and designs make a veritable rainbow of col ors. In~ front- of the auditorium stands a high flag pole from which fL>ats old1 glory. The Car olina delegates last year' hoisted a six-loot Carolina pnnant inust BLUE RIDGE CO SWIMMING PO4 l FLAG RAISINi UN I V ERSIT OF SOUlTH l'A RO under the stdars and st rijes. an wvhen the hundreds poured or of the break fast hall, there floa e'd old1 glory and the Carolir pennant standing out in iit brisk mountain breeze. 'Stunt night'' is almnost a dnI mnatic event. I )ifIferen t collegt nave some little performiane< 1)erhaps a college scene, or' a athletic exhibit. It may le ti college quartet or a comiic mom log-n, or dlialog-ne. It is a Cor NFERENCE VIEWS ). AT LUE RIDGE f f!1 AT111,L1FE IIDGE LINA (.iROllP' AT BlilE RIDGE 1916 L-IleRd e teeisnta og a ac, xcpta hsialdefomiy n Alwi fuIIllIo ifGe, pit,ad ur (eoset ism tan icubag tsfo.cl it.':eg e sit, a atie ote (lor a e. No oee ry stee t sr BLUE RIDGE GROUNDS, VIEWS AND BUILDINGS Where Twenty Carolina Men Will Spend June 12 to 21 ''he Conlference groluTnds an(I buildings owned by the Yoing Men's ('bristian Association are situated in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, sixteen miles east of Asheville, N. C. The spot is one of the choicest in western North Carolina and was selected after a thorough survey of many other possible locations had been made. The grounds are in the shape of an amphitheatre and comprise in all eight hundred and fifty three acres. The Blue Ridge chain is directly back of the ho tel from which there is a splendid view of the Swanna' o: h Valley and the mountains behind. A sunset seen from High Top, the highest.peak in this lange, is a scene not soon to be forgotten. The Craggies, the Seven Sisters, the Pinnacle, the Lookout and Brusby are in full view from the hotel veranda. TIhis view is said to be the finest obtainable from any hotel in the South. There are two mountain streams that tumble down the mountain side on either side of the hotel. One of these is used to generate the power which lights the build ings. The little waterfalls along these streams, the (deep ravines cov( r ed with ferns and galax, the dense growth of rhodo(lendron and mountain laurel. which is in full bloom (uring the conference seasonl a(l( much to the Ibeati y of the place. Robert E. Lee Hall is the main conference building. It h.:s the modern conveniences, and cnn tains one hundred rooms for guests, well equipped lecture rooms, and a lobby fifty by nin( ty feet finished in native cherry. Hotel men say this lobby is tin equalled in the South. In front is a spacious veranda, the roof of which is supporte(d by immense colonial columns. There is also an auditorium and a dining hall that seats four hundred. The eleven cottages have been erected by the different colleges and universities. ('lemscn ('ol lege and Winthrop have gone in toget-her and built a cottage. This cottage is occupied by the del'1ega tes fmrm W inthrop (during the Y. WN. C. A. con ference, and by t he C lemson (delegates during the Y. M' C. A. conference. Con ver,se College is now challenging t he University of South Carolina to raise half the amount for put ting up a Converse-Carolina cot tage. liesidles the cottages there are tents that are well furnished and prov idled with electric lights. Tlhey' afford ideal q1uarters for those who like enmnll life.