Founded by Friends : the Quaker heritage of fifteen - Scarecrow Press

Haverford College 7
the arts, Sharpless did have his portrait painted by no less than the eminent
Cecilia Beaux, considered by her contemporaries to be the most distinguished
woman portrait painter in America.
While the founders’ philosophy was deeply rooted in the Quaker concept
of the value of each individual, the concept of diversity was introduced
during Sharpless’s deanship. The first nonwhite students to be admitted
to the college were Asians. Koichi Takasaki of Japan matriculated
in 1884, possibly a result of Quaker missionary work in Japan. The first
black student at the college, Osmond Pitter, graduated in 1926.
Isaac Sharpless believed in student self-government, even while rules
governed student life. These were meant to foster mature behavior, solidarity
among freshmen, and a class spirit that would result in the “best
Haverfordian” possible. In such a climate, students introduced the Haverford
College Association in 1891 “to promote the interest of the students
of Haverford College.” The idea of an honor system followed in 1896. In
its earliest form, it allowed students to take tests without proctors. Practically
from that time on, all classes had an honor system.
Beginning as early as the 1870s, there was a mild form of hazing for
freshmen, such as being thrown into the duck pond or having their heads
shaved. Prescribed forms of dress may also have been a form of hazing.
Freshmen were forced to wear a stiff collar, bow tie, and beanie until 1938.
Failure to do so or to obey other rules resulted in a variety of creative punishments.
Freshmen were referred to as “Rhinies,” a mythical Greek term
for “little green worm.”
The college was not without fun. From its early days, cremation of some
unpopular textbooks had been a favorite entertainment of the sophomores.
For some years, it was Paley’s Evidences of Christianity that was
burned before an audience covered with sheets or dressed in costume.
Later, other works suffered the same fate. Invitations were issued, and
large crowds attended. President Sharpless banned this amusement in
1889, suggesting the inappropriateness of book burning at an institution
of higher education.
The student newspaper, the College Weekly, was first issued in 1909 and
may have been further evidence of Isaac Sharpless’s faith in the maturity
of Haverford’s students. The newspaper’s stated mission was to broaden
discussion of college news and publish all college events of interest “in a
fair, impartial way.”
Athletics had existed since the founding of the college but burgeoned
during the Sharpless administration. Cricket had been a Haverford sport
possibly since 1833, and its athletes participated in the first American intercollegiate
match in 1864. Between 1890 and 1910, Haverford dominated
the sport, which still flourishes here. The first tennis tournament took
place in 1886, even while some complained it interfered with the playing