Information? Anybody catch a glimpse? Thoughts?
From the Jolt:
As many of you may know, Amherst was blessed long ago with the protection and guidance of the river goddess Sabrina. In 1857 the governor of Massachusetts bestowed a bronze statue of the water nymph upon the College on the Hill, and since that time she has excited generations of Amherst students, inspiring legendary battles between odd year classes and even year classes over her custody. During one year, she was dangled over the campus in a plane; another year, she was held out of a passing train, causing athletes to drop their equipment in the middle of a baseball game and charge after the elusive statue.
Sabrina’s ventures, however, were recently halted. Several years ago, she was returned to the College administration, who hid her away in dark and secret location, bringing her into daylight for only the occasional class reunion. This neglect has no doubt saddened our fair protectress, and even worse, we fear she has begun to slip from the collective memory of Amherst undergraduates. You will surely agree that she hardly deserves such a fate, and so we are certain that you will be excited by the news we bring today:
SABRINA HAS BEEN LIBERATED!
Some time ago, a few of your fellow classmates crept into a bunker, hidden in the mountains around our valley, and absconded the beautiful goddess. We cannot, of course, disclose our identities just yet, nor can we display Sabrina publicly, for fear that the administrative forces of the College will work fervently to repossess her. (Although, really, it wouldn’t disappoint us if they recognize the fun of this tradition and let us off the hook…) We can, however, tell you that we are members of the class of an even year class, and that Sabrina is currently in our safekeeping.
Sabrina has matured with the times, and she now has her own Facebook account and blog! Please friend her on Facebook (though she is currently held by the even year classes–or ‘Es–she is happy to be friends with ‘Os as well).
Finally, as some of you may know, many years ago Sabrina was cruelly decapitated at the hands of pranksters among the Williams Ephs. Although her head was reattached by a subsequent Amherst class, the scars are still apparent, and her head is loosening once more. Therefore Sabrina will be traveling throughout the Northeast during senior week, visiting alums from ‘E classes, and posing with them in photos in exchange for a small donation toward the Sabrina Recapitation Fund. This summer we will use those funds to give Sabrina the healing treatment she deserves at the hands of a professional bronze craftsman. Stay tuned for updates!
Posted on behalf of Sabrina, Goddess of Amherst, class of ‘E.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Bill Taylor (wtaylor09) // May 9, 2008 at 12:34 pm
hilarious. i think that we really need to have pranks on a grand scale like this more often.
2 Dan McCune (dmccune09) // May 9, 2008 at 1:45 pm
For an official (and very un-PC history of Sabrina) writen in 1910 by a student, check out http://www.amherst.edu/~rjyanco94/amherst/history/1910shoop-mp/menu.html
3 Rachel Edelman (redelman09) // May 9, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I heard a few rumors about the ritual sexualization of the Sabrina statue from a professor last semester. This professor mentioned that during the College’s long all-male history, the Sabrina statue was seen as an object of conquest. Students and alumni would steal her and then hold “private viewing sessions” in which the men would have the chance to enact their sexual fantasies with the statue, in a symbolic rape ritual. But I hadn’t found any documents about the Sabrina until I saw the link Dan posted above.
In the section entitled, “The Legend of Sabrina,” I found a mythical story that seemed to have great symbolic links to the stories I had heard. In fact, it seemed to be a myth created in response to the ritual. According to the document, Sabrina was a “child of captivity” who was the “Goddess of the Britons,” the “Athena of the Saxon race.” (I’m going to ignore the latent racism in the story in order to talk about the sexuality and gender issues here.)
So in this legend, few can approach Sabrina, only the “chosen few of the little college on the hill at Amherst.” She is already unattainable to most, so those who were near her were even more competitive and envious of each other. Men fought over her for ages (according to later sections) in order to prove their masculinity. She’s the hottest “woman” on campus.
But back to the legend: Because Sabrina was born in “a prison to a life of captivity,” the ritual is to “liberate” her (just like our beloved class of 2008). Yet this “liberation” is also a capture. At the same time as she leaves her prison, she becomes subject to the will of the men who have freed her (i.e. the class who steals her).
So what happens after she’s stolen, liberated by her saviors? She’s put in her place: she’s raped. In fact, in Chapter 15 of the website above, it describes an incident in which “Sabrina in all her glory was kissed and toasted by the banqueters with more than usual fervor.” In effect, this was a ritual created by sexually repressed men to carry out their fantasies, all coddled by the College.
This is the “prank” we as a community are participating right now. We’re taking our goddess, the “prisoner” that the College has hidden away from us, and having our way with her. How can we call ourselves a progressive institution when we participate in this ritual exploitation? When we participate in rituals like this, we reinforce a dangerous message of misogyny. This abusive ritual doesn’t just tell men to exploit women; it tells women that they are meant to be exploited.
4 Sarah Zimmerman (szimmerman09) // May 9, 2008 at 2:33 pm
um, Rachel, I hear you. I do, really. And I understand that things should be held accountable forwhat they represent, sometimes moreso than what they may actually be. Nonetheless, she’s made of stone. I wonder if it might be okay after all.
Maybe that’s just my naivete. That is, I certainly find her history to be interesting, but is it inappropriate for me to regard it more as humorous than offensive? Am I supporting the “exploitation” by taking that perspective, or is it possible that such practices might not necessitate such indignation after all?
5 Monty Ogden (mogden09) // May 9, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Maybe the tradition can evolve a bit, Rachel? The college only exists because a murderer of Native American funded it. I understand the concern but I think there’s an opportunity here to bring about productive change without doing away with the Sabrina tradition all together.
6 lmoclock09 (lmoclock09) // May 9, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Monty, I agree with your idea of an evolving tradition, but I do have to point out one thing. Jeffery Amherst didn’t found our College; he died before 1800. The town was named after him, and we’re named after the town.
It just kind of bothers me that a lot of people mix that up. Sorry.
7 Monty Ogden (mogden09) // May 9, 2008 at 10:10 pm
So in re-reading my post I’ve decided that it sounds a little hostile, which was unintentional. But thinking more on it I realize that some of what Rachel mentions is pretty alarming. What I don’t know, though, is whether keeping the statue in the hands of the college for good is the better plan. From what I understand the tradition of the Sabrina persists, just not among current students. The occasional exposure to sunlight that the sabrina has seen in the past 14 years among alumni seems to have kept the more sexually-questionable aspects of the tradition alive and well. Maybe it might be better off in the hands of the Amherst students of today? With the drop in male sexual repression since the mid-70’s I bet we could make some serious improvements to the standards of acceptable human-to-statue behavior.
8 Rachel Edelman (redelman09) // May 9, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Monty has a really good point, one I was thinking about earlier when I was mulling over my post and its anti-fun spirit. I think that if we are to participate in this tradition, bringing Sabrina into a public place is the best way to do so. If we can look at our history and participate in our community while cognizant of that history, I think we can even have a good time with all these patriarchal traditions.
9 caravan70 (dpshupe92) // May 10, 2008 at 7:50 am
The statue was in fact in the hands of the college for some years - as I recall, they stuck it in the Mead Art Museum’s basement sometime back in the 50’s before it was “liberated” by some enterprising students who broke into the place. I was unaware that the College had reclaimed it.
One caveat: There have been fake Sabrinas over the years. I remember an expedition that had us driving around the Valley back in 1991 to secure a Sabrina that turned to be a fake plaster cast. I’ll be interested to find out if this is the real Sabrina.
And I don’t think the spirit of the thing is particularly “patriarchal” in character, Rachel… it’s just a fun tradition in which the odd and even classes used to participate. I don’t think anyone ever thought of it as implied “rape,” just stealing a statue and taunting another class with it. It could have just have easily been, for instance, a statue of Henry Ward Beecher.
Our traditions are disappearing on this campus. It’s good to see one of them, at least, make a return.
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