By ALI ANDERSON
anderson@du2.byu.edu
Tiger wrestling and ostrich races, Homecoming mud bowls and Founder's Day tug of wars ... these and other memories line the pages of BYU's past.
And as a new millennium approaches, one last glance at discolored yearbook photos and yellowed newspaper clippings invites a comparison between then and now.
BYU was founded 123 years ago, but how much has the face of the university evolved since its 1876 birth? According to the memories and insights of BYU graduates, the student body has become more liberated in appearance over the years.
'It was a milder, more innocent, mellow time to live,' said former BYU student Suzanne Hammond, referring to everything from the campus activities to clothing styles of her 1955 experiences at BYU.
Hammond remembers the circular skirts, saddle shoes and short hair styles that were definitive of her BYU days. Women were banned from wearing any kind of pants; not even men were allowed to wear jeans.
Although the Honor Code was somewhat restrictive, students did not often fight against its guidelines, said 1943 BYU graduate Avonell Rappleye.
'That was just the way it was. Girls didn't dream of wearing pants at those times -- at least the girls at BYU didn't,' Rappleye said.
However, many of today's BYU students would have challenged past dress and grooming standards with their jeans, shorter skirts and faddish haircuts, said 1965 BYU graduate Jane Komm.
'People looked much nicer back then,' Komm said, referring to the styles of her four years at BYU. 'Nowadays it's so casual that it's pathetic.'
But beyond clothing styles and hairdos, has BYU student life really changed since the university's founding?
Recalling Thursday matinee dances, Homecoming parades and Y Days activities, Komm said she thinks BYU students do the 'same old things' she did when she attended the university -- but maybe with a little more comfort and freedom.
'We used to go to Salt Lake City, watch movies, water ski on Utah Lake. I think the campus sponsored a lot of activities too,' Komm said.
BYU dances, including Homecoming, Preference and junior and senior proms, were also popular weekend entertainment activities, she said.
For several years in the late `60s, creative Homecoming activities popped up on campus. Stunts, including tiger wrestling and ostrich races, drew crowds of students, according to Edwin Butterworth's Brigham Young University: 1000 Views of 100 Years. Helaman Halls residents participated in Homecoming week mud bowls, and tug of war competitions were staged across canals near campus.
Although almost 35 years have passed since Komm's BYU days, many of today's students have fun doing the same things she did as a student.
'We go to movies a lot or rent movies. We love to go to dances, go on hikes, or going to music concerts,' said Aspen Grant, 20, a junior from Central Point, Ore., majoring in fitness and wellness.
Although ostriches, tigers and muddy clothes have not been part of Homecoming week for several years, Grant said she and other students still enjoy the Homecoming activities offered on campus.
Prank wars have also become an entertaining part of life for students, Grant said.
'We've sprayed snow on people's car windows, we've shred up newspaper and put it in people's apartments. But we also get lots of bad stuff done to us,' she said.
However, Grant and her friends are not the first BYU students to dabble in pranks and practical jokes. Komm said she and her roommates were pranksters themselves back in the `50s.
'We did pranks on the guys. I got thrown in the botany pond after I made an ex-lax cake for a guy,' Komm recalled with a chuckle.