Strong and Mighty - The Rock
The Michigan State University Rock was originally donated by the class of 1873. The decided to donate the rock as a way to leave their legacy on campus for future Spartans.
In order for the rock to move to its first home, located between Linton Hall and Beaumont Tower, a team of twenty oxen was put together. The oxen carried the 18,000 year old pudding stone from Beal Botanical Gardens. This rock was left behind as glacial evidence long ago. The Rock stayed in place for about twenty seven years, until on June 5, 1900, The Rock sunk into the ground. A message on The Rock was left behind saying: "00 Stone Dead." The senior class claimed that it was the junior class that did this and promised to raise the stone and properly inscribe The Rock upon their graduation. They did exactly that, inscibing The Rock to say, "Class of '73." The Rock then stood in place for over one hundred and fifty years. It even became nicknamed the "Engagement Rock" because so many proposals took place at The Rock. It was in the 1970s when The Rock started to become a new symbol for students, a symbol of freedom of speech. The students started to write controversial messages on The Rock. This started to cause strife between the students and the alumni. The two groups each saw The Rock symbolizing different things. In order to prevent The Rock from being painted, it was moved outside of the Public Safety Office. But, this did not stop students. To restore The Rock to its original face, the university attempted to sand blast The Rock. In response to this, students protested to stop it from happening. As a result, the sand blasting did not take place and The Rock was returned to its original location. The university bi-annually sand blasted The Rock which cost them between $300 and $400 each attempt. This money eventually ate away the the university's budget, and the bi-annual sand blasting was cut. It was then that The Rock became a permanent graffiti board for students. In the mid-1980s, while continually painting was still occuring, The Rock was moved from its original location to Farm Lane outside of the Auditorium, where is stands today. |
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Information:http://onthebanks.msu.edu/Browse/Contributor/http://msuarchives.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/still-standing-150-years-later-a-history-of-the-rock-at-msu/
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/freedom-443/
Images:
http://www.globalwealthprotection.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/personal-freedom.jpg
http://eis.msu.edu/_images/idp_banner.jpg
http://media.247sports.com/Uploads/Assets/973/445/445973.jpg
http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Freedom2.jpg
http://msuarchives.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/rock-2.jpg
http://msuarchives.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/rock-1.jpg
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/freedom-443/
Images:
http://www.globalwealthprotection.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/personal-freedom.jpg
http://eis.msu.edu/_images/idp_banner.jpg
http://media.247sports.com/Uploads/Assets/973/445/445973.jpg
http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Freedom2.jpg
http://msuarchives.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/rock-2.jpg
http://msuarchives.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/rock-1.jpg