100 years ago in The Record
Saturday, Dec. 21, 1918
The RPI Class of 1919 graduates today with a commencement ceremony at the Music Hall after finishing degree programs on an accelerated wartime schedule, The Record reports. With the RPI gymnasium not yet restored after serving as a barracks for student-soldiers, the ceremony returns to its old downtown venue. While the student body has been officially demobilized, they’re still allowed to wear their Army or Navy uniforms. All except the foreign-born graduates remain in the U.S. Engineers’ Reserve. In one of his last public speaking engagements in Troy before taking up new work in Delaware, Rev. Joseph H. Odell of First Presbyterian Church delivers the commencement address. “Six months ago ancient Empires stood, representing all we loathe, and to-day they are gone, never to return,” Odell says, “In six months the spirit of our nation has been caught by our allies and a new world has been born. “The question is what kind of men will you be in this great new creation. You may be certain the day of privilege has passed forever, and men will from now on be judged by what they accomplish. The name or wealth handed down by others will no longer count. “The new world is to be one of constant progress and we are all called upon for our contribution. We must pro- duce, we must make good, and we must stand ready to answer the question, ‘ What have you done?’”
Record Concedes Game
The Record sports department embarrasses itself on the basketball court of the Central YMCA tonight in a contest for bragging rights with their counterparts at the Troy Times. “When the blue haze lifted after 20 minutes of most spectacular play, Scorer Rube Hayner announced the Times had won 20 to 2” one of our sportswriters reports. Whether this writer was on the court tonight is unclear. Our paper has enough sportswriters to field four separate teams, but the starting five consists of forwards Neil Kelleher and Harry Williams, guards Billy Hunt and Lloyd Dennin, and sports editor Martin “Marty Mack Dee” McDonough at center. Williams scores The Record’s only basket, a feat that “shocked the audience.” In our defense, the reporter claims that the team agreed not to score in order to secure a return match, but it looks like he came up with that excuse in the middle of his story. More candidly, he writes: “The whole doggone team played like a football machine rather than basketball….The Record men played everything but basketball.” The reporter promises readers that team members will have their bonuses revoked until they can redeem themselves.