User:Djl074/The Millikin Beanie Tradition

During the early 1900s, beanies were well-renown for being required apparel for freshmen to wear across many college campuses, often as an embarrassing reminder of their inferior class standing to upperclassmen. A beanie may be most commonly defined as a small fitted cap. The beanie had a rich and controversial history at Millikin University in Decatur, IL.

=Origins= The beanie tradition came into full effect at James Millikin University (later identified as just Millikin University) in Decatur, IL in 1922. According to the Handbook of Traditions put into effect by the student council in 1922, freshmen were required to purchase and wear green caps (or “pots”). The hats were to be purchased from the university book store. The first beanies were fairly cheaply produced and often made of crate paper or similar materials. These beanies were typically green with a block letter M on front center part of the cap. The beanies were not considered popular with the freshmen class, but the school made every attempt to market the beanies as fashionable and desirable. Many students ignored the beanie requirement and chose not to wear them.

=WWII= The beanie tradition carried on at Millikin throughout the 1920s and 1930s until the early 1940s when World War II began. During this time, the beanie requirement was abolished from Millikin. The tradition returned, however, in the early 1950s as veterans were returning home from the war. The reinstatement of the beanie tradition brought with it the second revision of the cap’s design. The new caps were made of felt and were patterned with the school’s colors of blue and white. The caps also had a block letter M on the front portion of the cap much like in the past. Returning war veterans with freshmen standing were not required to wear the beanies out of respect for their service. Freshmen still responded with animosity to the beanie requirement, and often continued to not wear them.

=Enforcement= In response to the insubordination from the freshmen classes over the years, the student council (dominated by upperclassmen) established the first Freshmen Beanie Court in 1955. The court was established with the purposes of ensuring that freshmen wear their beanies by issuing fines for violating the beanie requirement. The funds raised from fines were deposited directly into the Campus Chest. The court consisted of a single chief justice and three associate justices. The first chief justice to reside was Millikin senior Dave Martenson and associate justices (also seniors) Jim McCarthy, Louise Riff, and Carol Zimmer. With referrals and accounts from upperclassmen of guilty freshmen, the court would charge the offending freshmen a fine of fifty cents. The establishment of the court created much resentment among the freshmen class.

=Retaliation= The freshmen class of 1959 protested the establishment of the Beanie Court with an article claiming it as unconstitutional in the school newspaper, known as The Decaturian. The Student Council held a forum in response to the article that invited the whole campus to give their opinions on November 22, 1955. Standing to defend the freshmen case was freshmen class representative John Bleeker. Bleeker proposed that the fine was an obstruction of fundamental student rights. The student council, however, denied Bleeker’s argument. The council passed a motion to legitimize the Beanie Court and allow it to continue operation into the following year. Not content to stand aside, Bleeker offered to publicly defend any accused freshmen. Few initially accepted his offer, and chose to instead pay the fine. One freshman, Dorothy Kelley, finally accepted his offer. Assisted with legal counsel from fellow freshman Don Johnson, Bleeker vigorously defended Kelley’s case. Justice Dave Martenson of the Beanie Court repeatedly overruled Bleeker’s claims, but Kelley refused to pay the fine in the end. Freshmen animosity toward the beanie tradition grew notably after the forum.

=Decline of the tradition= Upperclassmen continued attempts to promote the beanies to incoming freshmen classes. Articles in The Decaturian would spout such claims that the beanies would keep heads warm during the winter season, cover up bad hair days, serve as a fashionable addition to any outfit, stand out in a crowd, and help freshmen get to know fellow freshmen. Upperclassmen eventually gave freshmen an opportunity to not have to wear their beanies after Homecoming Week. If the freshmen could defeat the sophomores at the “Frosh-Soph” games, they would be allowed to cast aside their beanies for the remainder of the year. If the freshmen lost, however, they would be forced to wear their beanies until the Thanksgiving holiday. Upperclassmen promoted the beanies as being symbols of freshmen pride and spirit for the Homecoming competition.

=The Red M Squad= In addition to the enforcement of the tradition by the Beanie Court, upperclassmen and student council members came together to form a group known as the "Red M Squad" to single out freshmen who did not wear their beanies. Unsuspecting freshmen would have the letter M written in red lipstick on their forehead if caught by the squad for not wearing their beanies. Upperclassmen also recognized the presence of the squad on campus with such slogans as “We may be meanies, but you’ll wear beanies until Thanksgiving.” The Red M Squad was disbanded in 1963, however, on the grounds that the practice of marking freshmen with red lipstick was immature. The squad would only reappear at rare instances should the freshmen lose the “Frosh-Soph” games at Homecoming and continue to not wear their beanies.

=The end of the tradition= In 1965, two articles were published in The Decaturian calling for the end of the oppressive beanie tradition. The articles were quick to identify that the Red M Squad had vanished, and that upperclassmen sentiment toward prolonging and enforcing the tradition was giving way to apathy. The articles further stated that freshmen were fed up with having to wear the beanies (or “Blue Bonnets”) and feel ridiculed in doing so. In 1967, a similar article appeared in The Decaturian that criticized the decision of the Student Senate to maintain the beanie tradition regardless of the antipathy and protest being raised against it. The article targeted the Senate’s weak reasoning for keeping the tradition in practice, as the Senate had justified the tradition with the notion that the beanie was a nice piece of memorabilia for the freshmen to have upon arriving at Millikin and that the beanies were useful for identifying freshmen in a crowd. Shortly after the article was publish in The Decaturian, the Student Senate reconsidered their decision to maintain the tradition. With a vote of sixteen to thirteen, the Senate abolished the beanie tradition from Millikin. The Senate could not find any valid reasoning for justifying that the tradition be continued. The close vote, however, indicates that some Senate members still felt strongly that the tradition should have carried on.