they shall resort to no tavern or other place where intoxicating drinks
are kept for sale . . .
[they] shall not play at cards or any other unlawful game . . . nor
shall they use intoxicating liquor.
The faculty minutes abound with cases which called forth admonition,
suspension, or expulsion.
With the introduction of student publications and athletics, some of this adolescent exuberance was diverted. The ephemeral Madison
University Literary Annual and the Madison University Gazette came
out at commencement time in 1857 and 1858. (later Madisonian ) which first appeared in August 1858, was issued annually for ten years. The first two ran stories, poems, and humorous articles, while the third, which had characteristics of a college year book such as listings of organizations, their officers and members, resembled similar publications at Hamilton and Williams Colleges. There was no regular campus newspaper until the Madisonensis began in August 1868; it continues to the present as the Colgate Maroon .
Croquet enjoyed a large following in the late ’60’s. Quoits, once popular, now attracted few devotees and interest in muscle-building gymnastics had declined notably since the ’50’s when students built a makeshift gymnasium. Primarily to distinguish Madison students from their opponents participating in extramural athletic contests, the first University colors, blue and magenta, were adopted in 1868. General recognition of the wholesome contribution athletics can make to college life, however, did not come until nearly two decades later.
The student generations of the ’60’s seem to have gotten considerable enjoyment from informal singing. In 1863 appeared a 24-page pamphlet, Songs of Madison, the first of its kind, which includes college songs of the period as well those of Madison students. Of particular interest is what must be the first Alma Mater which begins:
Alma Mater! Alma Mater!
Heaven’s blessings attend thee;
While we live we will cherish,
Protect and defend thee.
The most profound influence on the life of the students in the 60’s was, of course, the Civil War. They watched its approach as they read the newspapers in the library reading-room and listened to speeches of