Hall of Fame:SAR

1994 -- 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 http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Nebula/6140/cty/terryisgod.html 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.

1995.2 -- 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.

1995.2 -- Ug

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.

1996.1 -- The Gummie Bear House of Horrors

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."

1997 -- No Biting The Signs

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.

2000 -- "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" on the building walls. 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.

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.

Edit: Lee-Kai Wang returned as an RA in Lancaster '04. Wonder how he landed that job?

I can't believe that some of the biggest legends not only happened during my time at CTY, but that they were two of my best friends! Aw man. Free Lee-kai. -Heidi Vanderlee, Saratoga '01

Heidi, you are such a dork. Love, lk

2000 -- Jon Good

Jon Good was a nevermore at Saratoga in 2000, and during the second session, signed up for the Random Acts of Senseless Kindness weekly, and was given sidewalk chalk and told to write nice things. Jon found the bussiest sidewalk intersection in the quad and wrote "Jon Good Loves You" in huge letters in the path. Within a week, "Jon Good Loves You" was written in chalk all over campus, sometimes by him, but more often by other CTYers. In his honor, his name became part of the American Pie chant; the line "And the three men I admired most/ the father, son, and the holy ghost," has acquired the callback "and Jon Good!" Jon is also alleged to have been the first to write "Free Lee-Kai" in chalk on buildings.

2005.1 -- Mulan Final Song

After American Pie was played at the last dance of Skidmore 2005 and 2006 Session 1 everyone prepared to return to their dorms. However, right before announcements by the SRAs to instruct everyone to return back to their dorms RAs Lee (2005) and Jesse(2006) played the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from the movie Mulan upon the request of Edwin Ma (2005,2006) and Andrew Yu (2005). Due to the enormous enthusiasm and applause during and after the song it was decided that "I'll Make a Man Out of You" was to be made Canon and will be played every Skidmore session 1 after American Pie at the last dance.

A note from rmd: The Pop Culture Class of Skidmore Session 1 2006 found it extremely hilarious that this was played because we had watched Mulan to analyze and write an essay on. And, if anyone remembers, we did sometimes break out into singing "The Man Song," except all "you"s we changed to "Yoon" (mysterious as the dark side of the YOON) for our good friend, Michael Yoon (and any other CTYer with the last name Yoon). Some people in our class thought that this song was played especially for us, though I do remember Andrew Yu requesting it last year. And I agree, this must become a canon.

Note: It is also known that Edwin Ma had argued and fought for some time to get the staff to allow the Mulan song to be played after American Pie. Due to the fact that Skidmore 2006 had only 2 returning RAs no staff member remembered the playing of the Mulan song in 2005 and they did not believe that a song should be played after American Pie. However, after days of arguing with the staff on whether or not the song was to be played Edwin Ma finally brought it up to the dean of residential life Mike Chin who remembered the song being played last year. Edwin Ma brought the CD with him to the last dance and Mike Chin confronted the staff who refused to let the song play. The staff gave in and before announcements were made they played the song and it was decided that the song was to be made canon and played at the last dance after American Pie. Edwin's last wish was that when Edwin and Andrew return as RAs the tradition would still be upheld without the help of Edwin and Andrew themselves. The 2007 Passion Fruit emperor Jay Margherio said that he will do his best to fulfill Edwin's wish.

-EDIT After a long discussion it was decided that I'll Make a Man Out of You would be upgraded from Canon to High Holy Canon alongside American Pie, Stairway to Heaven and Forever Young, although it will still only be played at the last dance. It is unknown at the moment whether or not this will be a Session 1 tradition or if it will apply to Session 2 as well.

EDIT: It seems as though this will only apply to session 1, as I recently attended session 2 and had never heard about the Mulan song until now.

UPDATE: Due to the fact that Mulan was not played during Session 2 Skidmore 2006, it has been concluded that it will be a SESSION 1 TRADITION ONLY. Many of the returners from 2006 session 1 had requested that Mulan was to be played and it has been rumored that Edwin Ma actually called the CTY office during the last week and requested the SRAs to play Mulan. (

Yes, I had called in and requested for them to play it during session 2 but I guess they either forgot or didn't have a CD for it. -Edwin

2006.1 -- Ceriously Talented Youth

Skidmore hosts two ballet schools at the same time of CTY, and CTYers have a less than friendly relationship with these rinas and rinos. Although the exact circumstances are uncertain, one such rina was quoted as having asked RA Stephan "What does CTY even stand for? Ceriously [sic] Talented Youth?" which soon spread around the campus, causing hilarity to ensue among CTY students. For sheer idiocy and perpetuation of the CTY-rina relationship, this deserves a spot in the hall of fame.