Traditions

Brief History

According to a 1948 article in The Twig, Stunt Night, as it was first called, is said to have begun on March 16, 1915 and was sponsored by the Athletic Association. In 1935, Palio was added to Stunt by Miss Marian Warner. Palio, an afternoon of parades and fun before Stunt Night, was an adaptation of the Italian celebration of the same name. The last Palio celebration was in 1951, eighteen years after the first observance. Stunt Night, however, continues to this day with one major adjustment: in 1934, Stunt Night was expanded into Stunt Day, beginning with a tree planting.

Stunt

Since its beginning in 1913, Stunt has undergone many minor changes. It began as a fall activity and has switched back and forth between fall and spring semesters. Currently, it is a spring semester activity. While it started with each class presenting a skit, it was changed to mostly athletic or field day activities in the late 1980s. When Stunt was first judged in 1923, winners received a silver loving cup as a prize. In the 1930's Palio and Stunt were held on the same day, separated by horse and bicycle races in the afternoon, as reported by The Twig in 1939. Each class had a theme and skit for Stunt Night, which was kept secret until the big night. In 1922 and 1923, the sophomores stole the freshmen's ideas and incorporated them into their own skit. The freshmen retaliated the next year by fully preparing and organizing three skits, giving them a choice for the evening's activities. Dr. Ione Knight, class of 1943, was impressed by the originality and effort that went into the skits, but she also remembers the time and spending limits set on the stunts. Ms. Carolyn Robinson (class of 1950) was also struck by her class's stunt their sophomore year. She believes they won the loving cup with their more serious skit because it was so different from the usual humorous skits.

Big Changes to Stunt

Dr. Jean Jackson, class of 1975, came back to Meredith in 1983 to serve in faculty and administrative positions. She has observed many changes in Stunt over the years, and believes that the current celebration is closer to the tradition of Play Day. This now-extinct celebration was an afternoon of games and fun, but did not include a skit. The big change in Stunt activities occurred in the late 1980's. During her time as a student, Dr. Jackson says that Stunt was on the decline until only a core group of women from each class participated. She fondly remembers winning Stunt her senior year when she played a character named "Lotta Chatter." The activity most closely resembling the original Stunt activities is the Lip Sync competition, which is similar to the original songs that were written and performed when Stunt was relatively new.

Each year, the Student Handbook gives rules for Stunt and Palio. In 1947, a new rule was enacted that the class with the most participants in Palio won reserved seats for Stunt night. The class that won the parade part of Palio had their class numbers placed on the Palio banner. The two events were separated in 1950, when Palio became an evening event. The Twig reported on how the student body voted for this change. Stunt then was moved to the spring, according to the 1951-1952 Student Handbook. The following year was the last time Palio was mentioned in the Handbook. Stunt moved between semesters several more times in the following decades. In 1957-1958, the Handbook records that it was moved back to the fall, and in 1971-1972 it returned to the spring semester. The reward for winning Stunt, the loving cup, also underwent some adjustments. The 1954-1955 Handbook states that if a class won the cup two years in a row, it could keep the trophy. This rule was changed to three years in 1962-1963, and no one has been allowed to keep the cup since 1968-1969.

Stunt Events

The main event of Stunt was the skits, each with its own theme. As reported by The Twig, in 1929 the junior theme was that in 1999 everyone ran on springs and had to be wound up with a key. The characters in the skit kept winding down and going limp and then had to be rewound by another character, who spent most of the skit winding people up. The skits usually included songs and occasionally orchestral accompaniment. The November 7, 1933 issue of The Twig describes another interesting skit, where the sophomores used a real cow in their stunt, but the seniors won that year with a male guest in theirs.

In 1988-1989, Stunt switched from skits to games. Recent events have included Flour Power, Halo Chase, Tug of War, Lip Sync, Egg Toss, Sponge Toss, Balloon Toss, Bat Spin, and a three-legged race. This is typical of how Stunt is celebrated today. While it has been through many changes, the relaxing spirit of Stunt remains the same, offering students the opportunity to relax, release stress, and have fun during the spring semester.