Hall of Fame

One thing CTYers are known for is their general weirdness. I personally know CTYers who have spent whole days wearing signs with strange messages on them, and whole classes who have had pillow fights on stage at closing ceremonies. However, these acts weren't well known or significant. There are some acts of weirdness that are much better known or wide spread. These earn a place in the The CTY Hall of Fame.

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Carmen the Frog

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One of the most infamous displays of weirdness was put on by Judy at CAR-1-96 and LAN-2-96. Through both sessions, Judy wore a stuffed green frog named Carmen on her head. Carmen managed to hold her perch through class, activities, hall meetings, meals, social time, and even dances. During first session, Judy and her friend down the hall, Won, hooked Carmen up with Won's stuff walrus John, making them "the cutest stuffed animal couple in Carlisle." Second session, Carmen managed to become a scapegoat for the Lancaster faculty, who unjustly blamed her for all their problems. Wearing Carmen earned Judy the nickname "Frog girl" and earned them both a place in the CTY Hall of Fame.

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Gary's Hair

In CAR.2 '95 Gary- long time staff member, former CTYer, one of the founders of Passionfruit, and SRA for several years until his retirement in 97- had VERY long hair, we're talking past shoulder length here. Well, for before the talent show he shaved his head and guess what appeared on the talent show program cover? You guessed it, Gary's hair. Any CTYer who was there that year remember that incident, making it part of the CTY Hall of Fame

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Chuck

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At CAR-1-96, the RA's were soliciting pictures for the cover of the yearbook. One memo threatened, "if you don't send us pictures, we will be forced to put CHUCK on the cover of the yearbook." and supplied a picture of Chuck. However, a large percentage of the CTY population decided that they wanted Chuck on the cover. Despite much campaigning, Chuck never made it onto the cover of the yearbook. He did, however, appear on the talent show program, get his own (now defunct) web page and earn a spot in the CTY Hall of Fame.

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Swirly Man

At Lancaster in 1993, four guys who took geology together and (like everyone else at CTY) had lots of in-jokes. They were all 15, and one running joke involved interesting ways to keep the younger CTYers on their hall in line. Swirlies became the preferred method. (Although none was ever actually administered, they were a helluva lot of fun to joke about). Basically, a swirly meant taking a punk by the collar and dunking his head in the toilet.
In the second week of the session, one of them made an impromptu costume for Swirly Man, Defender of the CTY Faith, and wrote a theme song for this new superhero that regaled his super powers and CTY traditions. Swirly Man soon had a sidekick named Toilet Boy; and two other superheros, Horny Man and Mental Man, were also soon born. Each had his own theme song. The four of them together made appearances at dances, activity periods, and other events; but their mortal identities were never known outside of their hall. The next year, the superheros reunited and made appearances all over campus. At the final dance, they were in high demand among the ladies. Their mortal identities might have slipped out that last night, but regardless, they made it into the CTY Hall of Fame

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Edit by Andrew Dodd - I believe Swirly Man was Dan Fingerman. I don't recall who the other superheroes were, it's been over a decade since that Geology class. Toilet Boy may or may not have been Brad Chain.

I believe the identities of the sidekicks may have changed during the ensuing years.

Pierre, the Melancholy Squirrel

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Pierre the Melancholy Squirrel, aka Tim Shumaker, has attended quite a few sessions at Carlisle, from the years '95-'97. He is frequently seen at discussion group, and in fact once led his own unofficial discussion group, entitled "Pierre." One can spot Pierre by his half of a beard, his infamous rants about Hobbes, Marx, and the Simpsons, and his trademark "Buh?!?" Pierre was a frequent potraial in Improv sketches, though Pierre himself rarely attended Improv, and was part of the acts for both the first session and second session MC's in the '97 talent shows. Because of all this, Pierre has become part of the CTY Hall of Fame.

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The Chair Sculpture

In the Writing 2A class room at SAR-2-95, there was an interesting artifact. In the back of the room, there was a large, pyramid shaped sculpture made entirely of chairs, the kind with desks attached. It appears the creators, Ben and Bailey, thought that there were too many chairs in the classroom, and got them out of the way by piling them precariously on top of one another. Rumors of the sculpture spread and soon many CTYers were making pilgrimages to see it. Though it was dismantled at the end of the session, it earned a place in the CTY Hall of Fame.

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The Squirrel Theory

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At Clinton Session One of '97, an interesting theory circulated. Basically, it stated that there is but a single squirrel. He is a mystical five-dimensional beast, which means he can travel in the regular 3, and also time and dimensions. His dimension hopping abilities allow him to go into another dimension and pull back a copy of himself from that dimension, which explains how you could see more than one at once, or in different places, or how they would look different, because in other dimensions, he would have undergone different life's conditions, and that would have altered his appearance. This theory, created by Dwight Bussman, was told throughout the session, and remembered well by CTYers who were there, thus earning it a place in the CTY Hall of Fame.

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Radio Invitation

Two students at Loyola Marymount had found out, through a teacher, of the existence of Loyola Marymount campus radio. The radio broadcasts throughout the campus (and outside some). On the second Friday of the session, they managed to find where this radio station was, and actually got into the studio, bringing a thrid student along with them. Eventually, the DJ was convinced to give the "genius kids" (as she called them) airtime. After giving their remarks on how much fun the session was ("we call it 'Center for Tortured Youth') and on the "anal" CTY administration, they got a brilliant idea and announced that a big party with lots of booze was happening that evening where the CTY dance was going to take place, inviting anyone who wished to come. To their surprise that night, several people showed up but were turned back by the puzzled RAs "guarding" the dance. The sheer intuitiveness of the stunt earned it a place in the CTY Hall of Fame.

Afterword: Although the two students who had the original idea for this were Nevermores, the third wasn't and made a point of secretly bringing at least one person up to see the radio station the next two years. If you are at CTY LMU and want to see the radio station, take the elevator in the building that houses the cafeteria up to the top floor. Turn left onto the hallway and go down it until you reach a door on the left with lots of cool stickers on it. Go through the door and walk around; you can see a really nice view of the campus through the window, plus, a lot of the DJ's are really cool to talk to and have great taste in music. ;-)

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The Gummie Bear House of Horrors

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The second floor Kimball hall at Saratoga 1996-1 saw an excellent example of the weirdness that CTY can induce this session. Following a sunday trip into Saratoga Springs, construction was begun by students Daniel Terry (astronomy), Michael Tolan (Math), et al. on "The Gummi bear House of Horrors." This frightening exhibit took the remainder of the first session to complete, including around 40 examples of mutilated sugar. Among these bears were "Ritualistic Satanic Sacrifice Bear" and "Jeffery Dahmer Bear" as well as a bear mashed into the carpet, and one nailed to the door (hammers are good things to have at CTY). Also adorning the room was a sign proudly proclaiming "Don't Feed the Rinas"

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Offering to Hecate

At CAR Session 1&2 '00, The Latin class started the 'Offerings to Hecate'. Hecate was the Roman goddess of the crossroads, and traditionally when Romans crossed major intersections, they left food on the road for her, so she wouldn't come and take their souls. They started to drop food in the crosswalks between the HUB and the academic quad... little things at first, like crackers, but then it evolved into things like whole toasted bagels with cream cheese, ice cream bars, whole sandwiches (with lettuce and tomato, of course), and peeled bananas. It spread through the campus, and soon many people who didn't know of Hecate were making offerings to keep her from stealing their souls. It continued into second session, until RAs, citing the mess and the waste of food, put a stop to it.

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No Biting The Signs

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At Skidmore in 1997 the administration was making new rules left and right. People were having new rules created for them such as "No dancing in the rain," "Don't Make an Idiot of Yourself" and "No stuffing bras" so Jeremiah and Tim decided they wanted a rule of their own. The solution was to bite all those handy rule sheets and signs the RAs posted around our dorm. Soon it caught on and several other degenerates were chomping on the signs. Eventually the powers that be got sick of it and decided that was enough. They called a meeting before one of the dances and asked for the vandals to fess up, rather than ruin a perfectly good dance for all the guys, they confessed and claimed temporary insanity. Luckily, no one got in trouble. But out of this event came a new rule, "No Biting the Signs," and a new entry in the CTY Hall of Fame.

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Terry Is God

In 94 at Saratoga, an RA named Terry Olson became the God figure of a small cult. This came about when Terry broke his leg while demonstrating a dance for his RA group that he wanted them to perform during the mandatory Lip Synch that year. Several members of his RA group hailed him as a martyr and soon elevated him to a deity. To spread their "religion," Terryism, they performed a skit at the Talent Show, with an insert in the program about Terryism Also, later, they altered their CTY t-shirts to read "The Center for Terryistic Youth." Easily one of the strangest things to happen at CTY, it deserves a place in the CTY Hall of Fame.

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Hope for the Flowers

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Hope for the Flowers is a book about caterpillars, with lots of nice pictures. But it is more than that. It's a sort of inspirational warm-fuzzy type thing too. saraht started the tradition of reading Hope For the Flowers aloud. The second Saturday of each session, CTYers gather under a tree at the upper quad in Carlisle and enjoy the peace and togetherness. Though many CTYers don't know about Hope for the Flowers, it is a wonderful tradition that deserve to grow into a passionfruit-like event. Thus, I'm adding it to the CTY Hall of Fame.

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The Things That Aren't Sexy Song

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After receiving much peer pressure, I decided to include the Things That Aren't Sexy Song

in this hall, even though it also appears in the Sounds of CTY. After being sung by the MCs at the 97-2 CAR talent show, it took the campus by storm. Many CTYers had the tune stuck in their heads, and Jeffrey Morrow, the songs author, was kept busy filling the demand for copies of the lyrics. Things that weren't cool began being referred to as "not sexy." Its impact on the culture of CTY led it to be included in the CTY Hall of Fame.

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Ug

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Ug. First presented in a magnificent commercial preformed by Josh, Kevin, Ben, Bailey, Nathanael, and Chip at SAR-2-95, Ug was carried over to CAR-1-96 by Josh and Yours Truly. Ug is wonderful work of art, made from a old bed spring. Yes, Ug truly deserves a place in the CTY hall of fame.

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"Free Lee-Kai"

In 2000 at Saratoga, this kid Lee-Kai was caught in the girls' dorm. When he was caught, he apparently pulled a condom out of his pocket and said, "At least I was being safe!" The next day he was locked in an administrative office and wasn't allowed to see or talk to anyone. Everyone hung around the window of the office to see him, and he was passed food through the window. When his supporters were seen, the authorities moved him somewhere he couldn't be found. Almost immediately, people started chanting "FREE LEE-KAI!" Then, the sidewalk chalk came out. All over the walkways and even the side of the building under the office windows, everyone wrote "Free Lee-Kai." When the RAs dutifully washed it off, his supporters skipped dailys and stood outside the windows chanting and writing even more. The administration got pissed, but some people got to say goodbye to Lee-Kai. The movement earned itself a spot in the CTY Hall of Fame.

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Edit: Though the Skidmore staff hate the chalk writing on the brick surfaces, as it is almost impossible to get off, some CTYers were still writing "Free Lee-Kai" on multiple buildings at least two years after the incident.

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The Deaf Mexicans

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On the first day of second session, a article appeared on the front page of the New York Times, detailing the discovery of a evil scheme, in which Deaf Mexicans were forced into slavery in the US. This in itself wouldn't have gained the attention of CTYers, if the New York Times hadn't displayed such a strange obsession with the story. For the rest of the week, front page headlines blared things like, "DEAF MEXICANS WRITE POSTCARDS!!" while on page 8, small countries were being over thrown. When they caught Versatci's killer on page two, the Deaf Mexicans were eating waffles on page 1. This bizarre media event captured the minds of CTYers and inspired several wonderful discussion about the Deaf Mexicans, a song that was almost sung at the Talent Show, and an entry into the CTY hall of Fame.

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Milo's Hat

CAR-1-96 CTYers may remember a mysterious figure roaming the campus in a cool black hat. Well, the figure was probably Milo, and the hat was probably Milo's infamous hat. Though Milo's Hat was worn sunrise to lights out almost every day of the session, after CTY, Milo lost the hat in a bet, giving the hat an opportunity to return in the care of Yours Truly at CAR-97-1&2. Once again, it was a common sight on the Dickinson Campus, and thus it became a member of the CTY Hall of Fame.

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"I Am Not Offended"/Guys in Drag

On the second Tuesday of CAR-97-2, well over 100 CTYers supported the cause of Guys-In-Drag buy wearing signs saying things such as "I Am Not Offended," "Censorship makes me VERY Uncomfortable," and "Guys in Drag are Sexy." Nearly 30 guys risked being heckled by Soccer Players and HUB workers to wear drag at one point or another on that day. No lipstick was worn, however. Though drag seen often at CTY dances and what not (and notably, by the second session Quiz Bowl team from Quad 3, dubbed "Ugly Men in Drag"), sheer numbers earn this event a place in the CTY Hall of Fame.

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The Duck

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Starting in 1991 and continuing since then, a small fuzzy duck has been passed from one CTYer to another at Lancaster. Originally purchased for 13 dollars for a talent show act, the original owner felt silly for spending 13 dollars for a duck he was only going to use once. So, one day, in Thomas 1, he passed the duck to someone else. The next year, they passed it to a new person. And so on, through the years, to the present day. The bizarreness and long-life of this ritual surely earns it a place in the CTY Hall of fame.

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The Digi Clan

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The DigiClan started in 1994 at Lancaster, with a group of students taking digi. Through the years, the DigiClan has grown and expanded. It runs a mailing list, a webpage, and holds many reunions. Soon after its creation, it merged with the Land of the Large Round Tables, and since then, it has been adding members, some CTYers, some not. A perfect example of CTY friendships overcoming distance and time, the DigiClan deserves a place in the CTY hall of fame.

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Boycott Oxygen Day

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At Lancaster 90-2, Crash Matuzek realized that oxygen played a key role in many destructive processes, such as rust and burning. Furthermore, she discovered that the element was a waste product of the first inhabitants of earth. To make a statement, Crash and her friend Robyn declared August 1st Boycott Oxygen Day. Propaganda was created, chiefly in the form of signs, saying things like "Every day, billions of people breathe oxygen. Every day, hundreds of thousand of people die. Think about it." and signed "AP Chem Students for an Anaerobic Tomorrow. There was no big celebration, but picketing and signs were there. Since then, the day has lived on with the O2 (subscript 2 - the molecule of oxygen) in a circle with a line through it painted on the backs of CTY shirts. The holiday was still confirmed to be around for at least five years after Crash was gone, making it a part of the CTY Hall of Fame

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Rocky Horror Picture Show, CTY Style

The last dance of CAR97-1 and the second dance of CAR97-2 were attended by some well-known characters. Through the efforts of saraht, Guinevere, and Yours Truly, CTYers were assembled and costumed to look like the cast from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. The entire cast was present, as well as many TimeWarpers, and the costumes were remarkably well done. At both dances, the majority of CTYers gathered around the group to watch them preform the TimeWarp in true Rocky Horror Stage Show fashion. The group also stopped traffic on High Street prior to the first session dance, and were warned not to walk on High Street "for their own safety" before the second session dance. The overwhelming final product of this venture cause the cast of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, CTY Style, to be added to the CTY Hall of Fame.

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The Protest

During the second dance at Loudonville 2004 Session 1, American Pie was cut short twice. As this wasn't the first time during that dance a canon song had been cut short (End of the World), the CTYers all over the dance floor began sitting down in protest, following the example of Tim Mullen and shouted and the RA's running the sound equipment. Soon, the site director came in and yelled at everyone to be quiet, which they did, although they still refused to stand. The RA in charge then played Time Warp, resulting in everyone returning to their feet to dance and lights out being pushed back about 10 minutes due to the lengthened dance. After Time Warp, they played American Pie for a third and, finally, successful time.

Mike Gonan later reported that it was a software glitch in "Windows Media Player," even though the DJ used iTunes. Even after the fact had been proven otherwise, he absolutely insisted.

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RainbowGhettoFabulous Day

Throughout 2003 and 2004, session 2, at the CTY site in Bristol, RI (at Roger Williams University) a phenomenal holiday entitled RainbowGhettoFabulous Day has taken place. This holiday was first created by Ally. Methods for celebration include mostly wearing extremely colorful clothing, possibly including coloring your hair with rainbow markers, along with occasionally shouting "I love you!" to another random CTY-er (or non-CTY-er, if you really want to confuse people), giving hugs, wishing people a Happy RainbowGhettoFabulous Day and smiling. Its purpose is to spread joy and love to everyone (has nothing to do with gay pride). Eventually, the holiday became such a large part of this site, this session that at the end, when the RAs performed their goodbye performance of "You know you've been at CTY Bristol too long when...," two of the RAs, Jill and Brandon, finished the sentence with "you understand--and celebrate--RainbowGhettoFabulous Day." They were, of course, decked out in colorful clothing, necklaces etc. The holiday now occurs whenever Ally and her friends decide that they need one.

Edit: Hello, My name is Ally and I am the founder of rainbowghettofabulous day. Rainbowghettofabulous day was created when in 2001, I witnessed a rainbow. That session was the session of wannabe gangsters, so it was appropriate to yell "hollER" to everyone you met. When I witnessed the rainbow I had achieved an enlightment: Rainbowghettofabulous. This holiday is intended to spread love happiness and joy.Feel it! and don't forget to rock some rainbow toe socks<3

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Jeffy Ate Some Beans

At Carlisle 05.1 the girls of Sami's Hall were mersilisly tortured with the playing of "Beans" by Kurt Cobian over and over and over. Beans is a High pithced ramble authored by Kurt Cobain while on varius recreational drugs. This was played in our lounge most of the session, as many as 10 times in one sitting.

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95/2

Toward the end of Carlisle 05.1, CTYers awoke to find the Dickinson Campus blanketed with flyers entitled 95/2, a reference to Martin Luther's 95 theses posted on a church door in 1517. The number was divided by 2 so that the complaints would fit on one page. Thus, there were 47.5 theses. 95/2 was compiled mostly by George Hots, a nevermore by the Carlisle definition. He used computer lab time to print out about 50 copies, all disguised with a report cover. The project was extremely successful and most of the campus had read the flyers before the RAs tore them down. CTY was split between those who wholeheartedly supported George's efforts and those who were disgusted by his disrespect, as evidenced in thesis 47.5, addressed to the RAs: TREAT US WITH RESPECT, WE PAY FOR YOU. The latter were further put off by the author's appallingly poor (especially for a CTYer) grammar and punctuation, as well as the redundant and juvenile content and phrasing of many of the theses, especially considering that it is our parents, not us, who pay for CTY.

George was not punished for some reason, God only knows why, and was permitted to go to the last dance, much to the surprise and outrage of all CTYers. Those who oppose the theses can only hope for karma to kick in, preferably in the form of a large truck or carnivorous animal.

Free Jessy

A long time ago, in the archaic year of 2002, a girl by the name of Jessey went to CTY LMU as a Nevermore. She invaded the radio station, started her own cactus-worshiping cult, and arranged things so that a fake plastic tree was stolen from the LMU cafeteria and delivered to a friend's residence hall. Only a few years after her departure, tales began to circulate that she herself had walked into the dorm and that the RA was so impressed, he didn't bust her. Whether or not this is true, I cannot say, but it appears to be more of an urban legend than anything. And so it came to pass that the day following the LMU Radio Invasion, the Eternal Jessy was apprehended for smuggling an old CTY friend into the campus without authorization. She was taken to the LMU office for disciplinary measures undecided at the time. However, durring the talent show, a chant of "FREE JESSEY!" was started which spread throughout the whole camp. Everyone wanted to know if she was OK, if she'd have to leave. The administration finally relented and let her stay at camp, but under intense scrutiny. Apparently, two RA's were posted outside her window for the entire durration of the night of the last dance. Jessey has inspired many imitators who wish to take after her tradition (as has her friend Ryan Trask, the self-described "most eligible batchelor on campus," but that's neither here nor there). However, none have gotten close to the original.

THEO. vs. ETYM

At Lancaster 05.2, a war was waged between the Number Theory class and the Etymologies class. It started because the Number Theory class began chanting "PROOF PROOF PROOF, PROOOOOF!" during class. Etymlogies produced their own chant of "PARSE PARSE PARSE, ASSIMILATION!" (Pop Culture added their own chant, but that's irrelevant) Then one day, ETYM was outside, parsing words on the sidewalk with chalk. The next day, as they walked out for break, they found that Fermat had spraychalked terrible grafitti over their work. The grafitti read X^n+Y^n=/=Z^n if n>2. PROOF, PROOF, PROOF Etymologies was outraged. They drew proclamations of war all over the ground in front of Keiper. Number Theory was shocked to find out what had happened, but also had their own chalk. Numerous insults involving sets of Natural Numbers, and "q-ness" could be seen for several yards, and also the adding of an 'n' to Etymologies, thus creating 'Entymologies' (the study of bugs). But perhaps the biggest insult was the writing of "ETYM does not equal 42". Etymologies retaliated with more sidewalk chalk, and by taping Old English kennings to the door of the Number Theory classroom. More chant-offs ensued, but all was resolved come Valentine's Day, when the Number Theory class revealed that they were actually in love with the Etymologies class, and that their past actions were actually covering up that fact. Number Theory gave Etymologies a card which excalimed that they wanted to make little baby classes with them. And included a poem which read:

Roses are red
Violets are Blue
You guys are as golden
as one plus root five over two.

This infamous display of weirdness soon got the members of both classes attention from people all around campus, thus earning it a spot in the hall of fame.