flybystardancer | For those who don't know...

...which is pretty much everyone looking at this. Here at UPS we have an item very special to us. The student body article here tells the history of the Hatchet better than I can.

Search for Elusive Hatchet Continues
10.1.04

Melissa Huggins, The Trail

As Homecoming approaches, many students may have noticed posters around campus calling for the return of “The Hatchet.” In the spirit of keeping the tradition alive by passing on the legend, ASUPS President Ryan Cunningham and Vice President Wes Magee have launched a publicity campaign calling for the return of the Hatchet by halftime of the Homecoming football game. While some younger students may have never heard of the Hatchet before, it represents a campus tradition of hiding and recovering the tiny carpenter’s hatchet within the campus community. The Hatchet was last stolen in May of 2002 and has not resurfaced since.

“It’s an important part of who we are, and the hatchet is one of the more fun traditions and pieces of lore that we have,” Dean of Students Houston Dougharty said. Cunningham and Magee have put posters up across campus with photos of the Hatchet. They want to encourage its return, since traditionally it would resurface at an event like Homecoming.

“Literally a hundred years of students have interacted with this object, and I think it would be cool for it to come back,” Cunningham said. The Hatchet is an integral part of UPS lore. It was discovered in 1908 by a group of students tearing down a campus barn, who decided to engrave their year of graduation on the handle. They passed it on to the junior class when they graduated, and it became a tradition for the seniors to present it to the juniors each year. Eventually, the tradition evolved into a class competition where each class would try to steal the Hatchet from one another and then display it prominently around campus. Stories abound of creative places it has been hidden, from a hollowed out book in the library to being lowered from the Thompson tower, to hanging from the rafters of Kilworth Chapel.

Known as “hatchet running,” students would attempt to display their possession of it while keeping others from snatching it. To this end, the Hatchet has been tossed between moving vehicles and thrown from building to building. By 1965, hatchet running was outlawed because it was considered too dangerous.

From then on, the Hatchet resurfaced occasionally over the years, being stolen and returned twice . It was last stolen from the Wheelock Student Center in 2002 from a display case which had been specifically built to house it. The glass of the display is bullet proof, and the case houses a titanium box which can only be accessed via a small access door on the top which is locked down with special screws. The display has two independent alarm systems guarding the case itself, and the room that contains it has two doors with separate locks. However, in 2002, someone was able to circumvent all of those safeguards. At the time, many people on campus had access to the keys, and so it was assumed to be an inside job.

Through the years, each time it was taken, whoever took it was expected to share it with the campus community. However, in recent years that has not been the case. “What’s disappointing to me about the last two times it’s been taken is that the folks haven’t played by the rules,” Dougharty said. Whether the Hatchet is returned by Homecoming this year or not, more students are now aware of the story and can pass it on. “I would hate for these stories just to die,” Cunningham said. “While I can’t make somebody give it back, I can tell the story.”

• Assistant News Editor Melissa Huggins misses John Buccigross and Barry Melrose.

Well, Homecoming was last weekend, and miracle of miracles, the
Hatchet was returned!

The Hatchet!